The National Spirit 
of Japan 



A CONTRIBUTION TO SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING 
BETWEEN NATIONS 



By S. HON AG A 



BRISTOL: J. W. ARROWSMITH LTD. 

LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO. LTD. 




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THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/nationalspiritofOOhona 



THE 

NATIONAL SPIRIT 



A CONTRIBUTION TO SPIRITUAL 
UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN NATIONS 



S. HONAGA 
a 




BRISTOL 

J. W. ARROWSMITH LTD. 

LONDON 
Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, PCent & Co. Limited 



H 6 



First Published 1916 



MJ 



THIS LITTLE VOLUME 

IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR 

TO 

ALL HIS TEACHERS AND FRIENDS 

WHOM HE LOVES AND ESTEEMS 



" Freundschaft ist Liebe mit Ver stand." 

" The man you don't like is the man you don't know." 



Some of the contents of this book have appeared 
as articles in The Inquirer, The Link, The Journal 
of Education, The Ploughshare, The Christian 
Commonwealth, The Christian Life, and The Quest, 
but have been revised and expanded by the 
author, and are now published for the first time 
in volume form. 



PREFACE 



In this volume the author has investigated the 
National Spirit of the Japanese as a nation in its 
international relations, pursuing the ideal that in 
order to reform the present attitude of any nation 
towards foreign countries and secure a New 
Nationalism each country should, in the first place, 
penetrate much deeper than at present is the case 
into the foundation of its own National Spirit, and 
there discover the common bond of nations. And by 
bringing into light the real Japanese, and things 
Japanese, he has intended to make some contribu- 
tion to the International Morality of the future and 
mutual understanding between nations. 

To attain the aim above mentioned, the author had 
first of all to discuss things Japanese which have 
been misunderstood by the world up to the present. 
But this means nothing more than stating facts as 
they are, even though they are not yet known to the 
world at large. Again, what he says about Shinto, 
Bushido, etc., is no more than his personal views 
concerning these. There may be many Japanese who 

ix 



PREFACE 

hold quite different views on these subjects. It is a 
matter of course, then, that foreigners should not 
take his statements to represent any large body of 
Japanese sentiment. 

Some dissatisfaction with regard to the contents 
of this book the writer is expecting, and he further 
anticipates from his friends their criticism of 
its shortcomings. Certain practical considerations 
relating to the present war have of necessity affected 
the general nature of the volume, but it is hoped 
that readers will sympathise with the writer's 
sincerity in his wish for better future relations 
between the Japanese and other nations. 

Concerning the publication of this volume, the 
author owes his sincere thanks to Mr. F. H. Cutcliffe, 
of Oxford, who read carefully the text, and was kind 
enough to correct the English with unwearying 
assistance ; also to Dr. W. T. Hewett, of New York, 
and Dr. Tudor Jones, of Bristol, both of whom gave 
him much useful advice. 

November ist, 19 16. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION 15 

I. Causes and Effects of Misunderstanding . 15 

THE FACTS ACCOMPANYING THE SELF-EVOLUTION 

OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 
MISUNDERSTANDING AND RIGHT APPREHENSION. 

II. The Japanese and the European and 
American Peoples ; their Mutual Under- 
standing . . . . . . .18 

the difficulties of apprehension concerning 

foreigners, 
intellectual understanding and spiritual 

understanding. 



THE WORLD'S MISUNDERSTANDINGS UP TO 

THE PRESENT 26 

I. The Essence of the Civilisation of Japan . 26 

II. Politics, Society, Industrial and Fine 
Arts, Manners and Customs, Literature, 
History, etc. ...... 29 

III. Moral Apprehension, Especially Concerning 

Bushido . . . . . . .39 

fundamental misunderstandings of the 

doctrines of loyalty and filial piety. 
the spirit of bushido. 



XI 



CONTENTS 

IV. Religious Apprehension, Especially Con- 
cerning Shinto ...... 43 

the ideal indicated in ancestor-worship, 
shojin principle, the principle of incessant 
progress. 



THE GERMAN-JAPANESE WAR AND WORLD 

MISUNDERSTANDINGS . . . .51 

I. Various Rumours about the War of Japan 

with Germany ...... 52 

the anglo-german war and the attitude of 

JAPAN. 
RUMOURS IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA. 
RUMOURS IN ENGLAND. 
RUMOURS IN NEUTRAL COUNTRIES. 

II. The So-called " Yellow Peril " — Founda- 
tions of the Opinion .... 59 

theoretical and practical grounds, 
destroying the fear of the " yellow peril." 

V III. The Origin of Japan's Share in the War . 65 

A GRAVE MISUNDERSTANDING AND FALLACY. 
THE ANGLO-JAPANESE ALLIANCE. 
JAPAN'S MOTIVES IN OPENING THE WAR. 
CONCERNING JAPAN'S DECLARATION OF WAR. 

IV. Peace and War ...... 73 

THE PEACE IDEA IN JAPAN FROM THE OLDEST 

TIMES. 
LOVE AND WAR. 

V. A Neo-Japanism ...... 78 

VI. The Strife of Nations and its Morality . 81 

xii 



CONTENTS 



THE REAL JAPAN AND THE JAPANESE . 88 

I. Present-day Japan Viewed in a Spiritual 

Light 88 

observations on the material and the 

spiritual, 
the latent spirit in japan, 
the spiritual elements which assign japan 

her place in the world. 

II. The Psychology and Character of the 

Japanese Race . . . . -93 

the two great characteristics of the racial 

SPIRIT. 
THE POSITIVE HELIOTROPISM OF THE JAPANESE 
RACE. 

III. The Morality and Religion of the Japanese 

Nation ....... ioo 

THE REALISING LIFE OF THE JAPANESE NATION. 
THE FOUNDATION OF NATIONAL MORALITY AND 
RELIGION. 



APPENDICES 105 

I. Works of Reference on Bushido in European 

Languages ...... 105 

II. Works of Reference on Shinto in European 

Languages . . . . . .107 



xm 



INTRODUCTION 

I. Causes and Effects of Misunderstanding. 

Owing to the fact that man loves and seeks for truth, 
and yet often misunderstands it, what countless 
people have wasted precious human energy, time, and 
fortune in the quest. The seeds of innumerable 
tragedies are sown by such misunderstandings ; and 
how terrible is their effect on the people who growl at 
and curse their burdens we can see in the miseries 
which afflict the world day by day in the round of 
our ordinary life. But what seem most of all 
disastrous are the facts accompanying the 
self-evolution of misunderstandings. For a 
mistaken idea not only leads to failure in action, 
but this misunderstanding, by giving birth to 
another, enlarges itself like a snowball ; even a tiny 
misunderstanding, when once it is conceived, evolves 
itself and widens its scope more and more till its 
results appear to be infinite. 

Such misunderstandings are not confined to 
individuals, they arise also between nations. But it 
should be remembered that in the case of nations 
the misunderstanding is more complex and the evils 

15 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

accruing are consequently greater. There is a 
German saying : " Misverstand verwirrt das Land " 
(" Misunderstanding confuses the land ")■ It is indeed 
mutual misunderstandings between nations which are 
sometimes the causes of the breaking up of inter- 
national peace ; they become the fuse of desolating 
wars, and for whole continents of people turn the 
friendship of yesterday into the hatred of to-day ; 
they lead millions of innocent men to sacrifice their 
valuable lives on field or mountain, while at home 
their women weep tears of blood. The misunder- 
standing which clouds the mutual friendship of 
nations may at first be trifling, but suspicion soon 
creates a dislike which, with the psychology of the 
masses controlled by sentiment, may at any time 
kindle a flame of hatred that only torrents of blood 
can quench. Thus a misunderstanding, caused 
perhaps by a little folly, whether individual or 
national, unless rooted out in the beginning, forms 
in the mind an unbreakable chain of misunder- 
standing or illusion which binds the impartial free 
judgment. 

But " the binding will not be loosed unless it is 
understood." If we would seek to remove such a 
misunderstanding, first of all we must clearly 
recognise as two distinct matters misunderstanding 
and right apprehension, which are such close 
neighbours in our daily life, and we must 

16 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

investigate the causes from which misunderstand- 
ings have originated. Nevertheless, the causes of 
misunderstanding in our life can never be regarded 
as simple. To apprehend rightly, in general, it is 
a matter of course that reliable and sufficient 
materials are indispensable, yet, in fact, there are 
many cases in which we cannot escape relying on 
insufficient materials or being contented with indirect 
evidence, on account of differences of language, 
natural difficulties, and other circumstances which 
offer few occasions for learning to know the reality 
concerning others. Not only the materials, but also 
the methods of thinking afford even unconscious 
provocations of misunderstanding ; it can hardly be 
denied that there are many cases in which right 
apprehension is prevented, for instance, by partial or 
one-sided observation, which is considered to be 
complete, or by superficial and shallow knowledge, 
which is supposed to be penetrating, and there are 
also the various errors which occur in reasoning or 
judging. But besides all these we cannot help 
recognising that many misunderstandings have their 
rise in the special mental conditions of the subject, 
so that the same thing is regarded differently, 
according to the states of mind and feeling of the 
subject on a certain occasion, while everyone will 
admit that various errors may arise according to 
the special character, environment, career, habits, 

n 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

education and other personal conditions of the subject. 
Finally, it need not be said how all these idols 
are multiplied and reinforced when the subject wears 
the coloured and distorting glasses of prejudice, 
suspicion, or hatred. 

Knowing that the conditioDS which mislead our 
understandings are so various, we should surely 
realise how easily our apprehensions may be disturbed 
in every-day life, and, accordingly, attention and 
introspection should be close and unceasing in the 
endeavour after right apprehension, so that by 
gaining the right idea the ground of mistaken 
conviction may be removed. Otherwise it will be a 
necessary consequence that though a man's judgment 
may be right, yet he cannot see the context because 
of bias and prejudice ; or while he grasps a truth he 
may easily give it a wrong application. 

II. The Japanese and the European and 
American Peoples ; their Mutual 
Understanding. 

The principles on which alone we can understand 
other individuals are equally applicable for under- 
standing other nations. But, in the latter case, what 
we ought especially to bear in mind are the diffi- 
culties of apprehension concerning foreigners. 

The relations between nations are more complex 

18 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

than the relations between individuals, and therefore 
it is more difficult to understand other nations. Yet 
what prevents mutual understanding between 
nations, even more than this complexity, is the 
sentiment towards foreigners which lies embedded at 
the bottom of national consciousness. While 
civilised people depreciate the manners and customs 
of savages who without reason are afraid of or dislike 
strange things, they themselves often display 
elements of national prejudice of just the same 
quality. But when a nation impelled hy this 
sentiment looks contemptuously at others, it forms 
a bar to any rational understanding, that mutual 
aid which is so important to our social life becomes 
impossible and the progress of civilisation is checked. 
Why did the pundits of the Jewish Church crucify 
even the Saviour Jesus Christ as a mischievous 
fanatic ? Why did the Greeks of the fourth century 
B.C. poison the great Socrates as a dangerous perverter 
of youth ? And for what reason did the people of 
the seventeenth century burn as a heretic that noble 
martyr for science, Giordano Bruno ? " After the 
persecution is over people just manage to understand 
that the man who professed the strange doctrine was 
right." Persecutors are not necessarily evil-disposed 
persons, but they do not really understand the true 
substance of what they are persecuting. If this be 
so, then what nations, when failing to understand 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

other nations aright, and yet thinking themselves 
enlightened, can be guaranteed not to fall into the 
same error as these persecutors of the heterodox ? 
The poet Goethe declares : — 

" Wir sind gewohnt, dass die menschen verhoehnen, was 
sie nicht versteh'n." 

(" We are accustomed to the fact that people depreciate 
what they do not understand.") 

Is not the nation which blindly reprobates another 
nation, after all, but proving that it is a stranger to 
that nation ? Also is not the English saying — 

" The man you don't like is the man you don't know " 

equally applicable to a nation as to an individual ? 

It is a fact that of late Japan is gradually being 
more and more talked about by European and 
American people. But though many of the scholars 
who are introducing Japan to the world do so with 
wise and keen vision, their work is yet too recent to 
have succeeded in allaying the world's misunder- 
standings. Consequently, there is a great difference 
between Japan as she is reflected in Western eyes and 
Japan as she really is. For this reason there are yet 
very many people in the West who entirely neglect 
the problems of the Far East. Nevertheless, few 
things are more difficult to explain than the reason 
whv civilised people, who are so convinced of the 
value of enlarging the range of human vision that they 

20 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

make microscopes and telescopes to observe invisible 
animalculae on the one side and heavenly bodies far 
beyond our view on the other, do not sufficiently 
extend their desire for knowledge to the oriental 
people who dwell on the same globe — as if they were 
content with only one hemisphere. But, further, if 
they either reject the study of Eastern races or try to 
press on them another religion, neglecting first of all 
to get an understanding of the foundation of the life 
and belief of the people, they can hardly hope for 
success. The greatest need of our times is, of course, 
the better mutual understanding of East and West ; 
nothing is more likely to produce a happy effect on 
the future relations of the great Empires. And it 
will be too obvious for remark that in the present day, 
when development of the means of intercourse and 
correspondence is bringing nearer and nearer lands 
which were once far distant, the special study of that 
pressing problem of civilisation, the foreign relations 
of a country, is most important. Certainly, the a priori 
assumption that there is, for example, an impassable 
spiritual gulf between the Japanese and the European 
and American peoples, and that therefore they 
can never advance hand in hand together, is a serious 
position to take up, which clearly indicates that 
mutual understanding is not yet sufficiently 
penetrating. 

Now it seems to me that two kinds or types 

21 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 
of understanding may be discerned. These are 

INTELLECTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND SPIRITUAL 
UNDERSTANDING. 

To make more intimate and friendly the relations 
of the world Powers in the present day, it is necessary 
first of all to sweep away the many prejudices 
towards other countries, and to get to understand one 
another sufficiently. To do this, though various 
inquiries and many investigations confined to 
intellectual interests are of course necessary, and may 
be interesting, yet acquaintance with these alone is 
not sufficient to make one nation appreciate the 
deeper, mutual, spiritual things which underlie 
another nation's life, and to cause these things to be 
shared in common. We must go a step farther and 
seek the real secure foundations for that true under- 
standing which makes each feel a living friendship or 
life in mutual relations with the other. To satisfy 
this demand is impossible by intellectual under- 
standing alone ; it is essential to have a spiritual 
understanding also. 

To prove beyond question the effect of spiritual 
understanding, the mutual attitudes of the nations 
up to this time must be entirely changed. In other 
words, when virulent censure of others proceeds from 
introspective reasoning, it is a matter of the utmost 
importance to awake to the danger of measuring 
other countries by our own measure only. 

22 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

In this respect we ought primarily not to consider 
the more apparent material achievements of a people, 
but also to pay full attention to their spiritual life. 
That is, not only to glean individual facts concerning 
social events or fragmentary happenings which have 
been recorded in the history of politics, but further- 
more study the dynamic life which produced the 
facts ; not being content even with exhaustive 
consideration of the natural sciences, but investigating 
with no less ardour the morality and the belief, the 
ideals and the foundations of the real life of the nation. 

Secondly, we must not only give attention to the 
spiritual life of the nation, but largely improve the 
methods and the spirit of our investigation. Though 
one " colours his fingers " in the study of religion or 
morality, he should not be content with the exhibition 
of moral theories or with impassively reading and 
objectively learning religious doctrines, the facts of 
religious history, etc. The faith and ideal which 
arise from the innermost spiritual nature of a nation 
are not to be truly evaluated by knowing the facts 
objectively. Unless one saturates himself, so to 
speak, in the inner life of other nations, seeing with 
their eyes, and realising their experiences and feelings 
with sincere sympathy as well as severe criticism, he 
can never understand their true state spiritually nor 
grasp in his own consciousness the truth which they 
find in their own wa3^s. 

23 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

Accordingly, the most, important element in the 
foundation of this spiritual understanding is the 
finding of identities between the different nations. 
However deeply or exactly we may investigate by 
scientific analysis, if we seek merely to discover 
differences, nothing but differences will be found ; 
but we can, if we will, find identities in the world as 
well as differences. However greatly war and other 
social disorders may exaggerate the differences and 
becloud the impartial judgment of men, yet what 
always gives the power of combination and fellowship 
between them is really their mutual spiritual under- 
standing. So we should endeavour to make up the 
deficiencies of those national ideals which the Powers 
of the world have hitherto turned against one another, 
appreciating all the possibilities of friendly external 
relations, but at the same time seeking those which 
are internal and more intimate ; recognising the 
inevitable differences which exist, but at the same 
time harmonising them by getting to their root, and 
so understanding spiritually as well as intellectually. 
Thus we should be able to find, behind political and 
economic relations, and also in spite of racial differ- 
ences, the common bond which indissolubly links man 
to man, and heart to heart — the power concealed 
beneath those differences. 

These two kinds of understanding should support 
each other instead of clashing. And while planning 

24 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

our mutual understanding more and more spiritually- 
as well as intellectually, we ought to cast aside 
national bias and enter freely and fully into one: 
another's inmost relations. And when we reach the 
depths of the inner life and ideal of any nation, we 
touch the harp-string of the human spirit, and call 
out universal answering harmonies. Who can doubt 
that while misunderstanding severs the social bonds 
of human beings and prevents the social progress of 
civilisation, such a true understanding establishes the 
foundations of international friendship, and by means 
of co-operative effort widens the life of all, and enables 
them to flourish and progress together ? Thus, 
appreciation of mutual aid as a factor of social 
evolution must soon become the ideal of nations in 
their international relations. And where and when 
this ideal is ignored it can only be said that the 
inevitable result must be a multiplying and a 
deepening of those hateful suspicions which have 
wrought such havoc among the nations in the past. 



25 



THE WORLD'S MISUNDERSTANDINGS 
UP TO THE PRESENT 

There are possible two kinds of causes of misunder- 
standing, indirect and direct, which prevent men 
from knowing Japan as she really is at the present 
day. These are : — 

1. Indirect : The world's misunderstanding up to 
this time. 

2. Direct : The world's misunderstanding re- 
garding the German- Japanese War. 

Both these kinds of misunderstanding should be 
removed, forming as they do a gulf which separates 
Japan from other countries, a barrier to the 
promotion of the common happiness of the nations, 
by hindering co-operative endeavour for the higher 
aims of humanity. And, first of all, to make clear 
how Japan has been misunderstood up to this time 
is to give a key of explanation to the fact how she has 
been misunderstood in the German- Japanese War. 

I. The Essence of the Civilisation of Japan. 

" Speaking as a scholar, the civilisation of Japan 
can also arouse a human interest, in nothing inferior 

26 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

to those of Greece and Rome ; the Far East ought to 
occupy an important place in universal history." So 
wrote Dr. Revon lately when appraising the civilisa- 
tion of Japan in his well-known book, Histoire de la 
Civilisation japonaise. Nevertheless, as few of the 
Powers appear to think the civilisation of Japan 
worthy of study from its foundations, it is by no 
means to be said that the essentials of the civilisation 
of Japan, whether good or bad, have been fully 
recognised. 

Now the original civilisation of Japan, so far as it 
has corresponded to the frank character of the 
Japanese who have produced it, has been simple from 
the material point of view ; and the fact that the 
immaterial contents of the spiritual civilisation have 
been clothed in simple forms has misguided strangers 
not a little. For instance, those who up to this time 
have been suspicious of Japanese civilisation as 
dangerous because unaccompanied by mental culture, 
or who consider her modem rapid progress as a 
temporary fluctuation, and say that " the source of 
her civilisation will sooner or later be dried up," have 
yet much to learn about the civilisation they are 
judging. It is especially worthy of note that almost 
universally they assume that the Japanese culture is 
merely imitative. Nevertheless, it should not be 
forgotten that the opinion which thus points out the 
imitative culture stamped on Japanese civilisation, 

27 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

though often admirable, yet too often implies some 
shallow observation ; for to consider Japanese 
civilisation as essentially imitative is to neglect a 
most important element in its nature ; and an 
abstract judgment which ignores concrete details is 
very apt to be mistaken from its very foundation. 

The civilisation of Japan has an imitative, it has 
also an original side. Those things which " Japan 
has imitated from foreign countries like a very 
passive organic body " are mostly the material and 
scientific externals of life, and she is chiefly original 
in what relates to the immaterial yet practical inner 
life. But this original inner life, as represented by 
Shinto or Bushido, etc., is difficult to observe and 
investigate by foreigners, to whom the language and 
other circumstances present great difficulties ; and 
though it is customarily little esteemed by foreigners, 
yet it is the root of Japanese civilisation. 

Secondly, it should also be noticed that the 
civilisation of Japan consists of as varied elements as 
the land of Japan (in which it flourishes) has gathered 
into itself civilisations of the world. Most important 
of all is what was developed indigenously, the purely 
national civilisation. On this groundwork first and 
second developments were achieved by the intro- 
duction of Chinese and Indian influences, and a third 
development by the introduction of modern European 
civilisation. Thus Eastern and Western influences in 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

the past., and more particularly European and 
American influences in later times, go to make Japan 
a melting-pot of world-civilisations. 

Thus the contents and the tone of Japanese 
civilisation, which has been enriched and complicated 
by drawing from Asiatic, European and American 
sources, have special interest in helping towards that 
understanding of Eastern and Western nations which 
must precede the civilising of the world. And 
anyone who wishes to investigate the true cause of 
modern progress in Japan should impartially 
re-examine her civilisation from the naked condition 
of birth, and seek the source of her culture in 
her original spiritual life, without being misled by 
mere abstract generalisations resulting from their 
ambiguous impressions of Japan. If Europeans and 
Americans will extend their desires of knowledge and 
their efforts at accurate investigation to the Far East, 
just as the Japanese seek for knowledge widely in the 
Western parts of the world, they will soon understand 
that Japan's civilisation is readily harmonised with 
their inmost thoughts of their own civilisation. 

II. Politics, Society, Industrial and Fine Arts, 

Manners and Customs, Literature, 

History, Etc. 

What ought to be rightly understood, with the 
general features of the Japanese civilisation, are its 

29 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

special phenomena. First of all, with regard to 
politics. Japanese politics, of course, must be 
considered in relation to the national spirit which 
founded Japan and the development of the ideal 
which evolved the history of its politics ; otherwise 
it is difficult to comprehend the reason why the 
Emperor of Japan is so esteemed spiritually, l to 
grasp the true nature of the inseparable relation of 
the Imperial Family and its subjects, and other such 
things. Otherwise also observers may conjecture 
and surmise what is the mind of the people, judging 
from the practical politics which appear from time to 
time in the political world — but they fail to apprehend 
the ideal behind particular political matters. And as 
they do not investigate the foundation on which the 
constitutional monarchy is based, they hastily arrive 
at the conclusion that the Government of Japan so 
little understands the principles of liberty that it is 
" a centralised government to enforce order." Also 
they often believe the beautiful old form of the State 
to have been entirely changed, confusing the form of 
the State and the s}/stem of government because 
Japan adopted constitutional government at the 
beginning of the Meiji period. But this alone proves 
that they are wholly unfamiliar with Japanese politics. 

1 Cf. Engelbert Kaempfer, History of Japan, vol. L, p. 261 ; 
George William Knox, The Development of Religion in Japan, 
1907, p. 64. 

30 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

It is a matter of course that social conditions and 
systems, with environment and history, greatly 
influence the thoughts and life of the individuals who 
live in any society. Yet from this point of view the 
inner nature of the social systems of Japan is unknown 
to the world. Japan up to this time has been a 
Family State, having as its unit the family, not the 
individual like some other countries ; the State is 
simply a large family. And what particularly 
deserves attention is the family system, and especially 
the manner in which the morality and the customs 
cultivated in that family system are effectively 
applied to the corporate life as a nation. Though 
his family system may accompany weakness as well 
as strength, yet the way of living cultivated in it,, 
while it is conspicuously modified by Western 
individualism, by the changed methods of living in 
the modern State, and by the development of 
economic thought, yet, on the other hand, the original 
principle of self-sacrifice is fostering continuous 
reform by holding extreme individualism in check. 
Nevertheless, the fact that the social activities of 
Japan under these different conditions are hardly 
noticed by foreigners, and that the continual 
reformation of old faults is ignored — this proves that 
the society of Japan, as understood by the world, is 
far removed from its actual condition. 

The industrial and fine arts, being easily 

3i 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

apprehended at sight, have been comparatively well 
known to the world ; yet often the earthenware and 
carved buttons for suspending pouches, etc., are so 
much overpraised by foreign critics simply because 
they are uncommon ; or they are inferior work with 
which second or third-rate technical experts have 
condescended to gratify the popular taste, and which 
happen to be esteemed by many foreigners out of 
curiosity ; or in some cases they may be mere 
" pot-boilers " by experts of the first rank, which 
nevertheless are admired as representative pro- 
ductions. Thus the industrial and fine arts of Japan, 
generally, have seldom been seriously criticised. 
However, those who accurately observed them might 
surely have found along with many defects 
considerable merits in Japanese arts, and also inci- 
dentally increased their world of imagination. Dr. 
Revon * pointed out that the arts occupy a large place 
in the civilisation of Japan, and he expressed much 
admiration for them. Apart from the question 
whether the Japanese may really lay claim to such 
high praise or not, what ought to be investigated are 
the aesthetic ideals which have been nourished in the 
life of an island washed by the water of the ocean and 
bathed in sunshine, where nature is vivid and 
beautiful. Is it not worth while, then, for the world 

1 Cf. the articles on paintings, buildings, engravings, etc., in 
Histoire de la Civilisation japonaise, 1900. 

3 2 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

to pay deeper attention to and make surer criticism 
of the strong points and the weaknesses which reveal 
themselves in Japanese industrial and fine arts ? 

Among the Japanese manners and customs 
relating to food and dress, festivals, marriage, etc., 
there are many which are apparently different from 
those of European and American people, and 
seemingly reflect a taste and psychology special to 
the Japanese. But if the foreigner once learns the 
flavour of these through the Japanese natural 
environment, historical and social conditions, etc., 
in consequence of his readily finding many agreements 
between them, it will be easy to rouse a deep interest 
and sympathy for, even an enjoyment of, different 
manners and customs. 

If the whole nation is impugned because of 
objectionable local customs which may be found, 
critics cannot escape the censure of " judging the 
entire flock by a few black sheep." And those who 
dislike another nation because of their knowledge of 
some old manners of a bygone age would be some- 
thing like the corbicula atrata, 1 known to every 
Japanese child. It is but to narrow one's own 
experience and hinder the development of national 
common sense. 

1 The little shell-fish which closes its shell and imagines itself 
safe on the shore, when it is really in the fish merchant's window 
at the command of the first bidder. 



33 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

With regard to Japanese literature, some very 
interesting comparisons may be made with the 
literature of Europe. For instance, Chikamatsu, one 
of the two stars in Tokugawa literature, was long ago 
likened to Shakespeare ; 1 the Lady Seisho Nagon is 
said to have had the style of a French lady of old 
time, and has been regarded as an oriental Sevigne ; 
the Priest Kenko also had gifts hardly inferior to hers, 
and is called the La Bruyere of Japan. 2 But besides 
the voluminous literature on which Japanese literary 
men have left their mark from the oldest times, on 
the sands of the so-called Island Root, " Yamato 
Shimane," there are not a few works whose devoted 
authors have concentrated their entire energies on 
one subject decade after decade. As regards the 
revival of classical literature in the sixteenth century 
— the commentaries, etc., of Kojiki, Nihongi, 
Mannyo, and others — there is in its spirit, as Professor 
Lfyeda well remarks, something of deep and in- 
exhaustible interest, especially when compared with 
the Renaissance Literature in Europe. It is said by 
some foreigners that the narrow space in which 
custom has confined the Japanese, has been " a 
great bar to the progress of their literature." 
Nevertheless, deeper insight will rind a valuable clue 

1 Cf. W. G. Aston, Japanese Literature, p. 278. 

2 Cf. the article on Literature in Dr. Revon's Histoire de la 
Civilisation japonaise, 1900. 

34 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

to the national temperament, and beneath the 
literary records of intrepidity and manly vigour 
(which are more on the surface) a vein of unspeakable 
tenderness and inspiring sympathy, such as is 
exemplified in the spirit of the saying, " Asking 
water (of a neighbour) because deprived of a well- 
bucket by the ' morning glory.' " 1 The same spirit 
is shown in the phrase, " sympathy of a warrior," 
and in the " deliverance," to use an oriental term, of 
the Samurai who maintained their elegance of 
behaviour, whether in the midst of life or death. For 
instance, in the war literature of the eleventh 
century incidents are sometimes related to show the 
power of detachment. In the height of battle 
General Yoshiiye called to Sadato, his defeated enemy 
(who was taking flight on horseback) in the words of 
the familiar form of a Japanese riddle, in which there 
was a play upon the word " Koromo " (the place 
where the battle was fought), the double entendre 
implying not only that Sadato's sleeve had been torn 
in the struggle, but also that his castle of Koromo had 
fallen. And Sadato in full flight across the river 
" String " still had the nonchalance to finish the 
impromptu riddle with the necessary seventeen words 
(which added to Yoshiiye's fourteen made up the 

1 A Japanese hokku, the idea being that sympathy for the 
fragile blossoms of the " morning glory " forbade his using the 
well-bucket around which the flower was festooned. 



35 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

thirty-one words required in the orthodox form of 
the riddle), implying again the double meaning that 
time had frayed the string of the garment and 
changed the ownership of the castle. We read also 
of the brave Kajiwara, an elegant of the twelfth 
century, how he bore branches of the cherry blossom 
in his quiver, that their fragrance might be dispersed 
while he fought, symbolising the fragrant memory of 
his name if he chanced to fall on the battlefield. 

Again, the Japanese have ever been most strongly 
affected by the changes of the natural world, and have 
remarkably stamped upon their literature a feeling 
of " Aware," or sympathy even for fading flowers 
and falling leaves. Professor Anesaki says of this 
state of mind : " The word ' Aware ' means the bond 
of sympathy which joins man to man and man to 
nature." And further he says : " This sentiment of 
' Aware,' though it has always been regarded with a 
pitying tone of compassion, yet indicates a burning 
aspiration towards a spiritual world in its root." 1 
If it be supposed that this sentiment of the people is 
an accidental exercise of sympathy, it would be well 
to refer to the so-called Seventeen Articles of the 
first Constitution of Japan, established by the famous 
Prince Shotoku in the sixth century. The idea of 
" appreciating gentleness, whether in high or low, 

1 Professor Anesaki, Le sentiment religieux chez les Japonais. 
Cf. First Report of the Association Concordia of Japan, p. 10. 

36 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

one should aim not to go against," which is found in 
the first Article of the Constitution, is simply the 
common bond in the human mind which secures the 
communion of man with man. Such a refined and 
gentle state of detachment in national sentiment is 
not one of the things which foreigners can afford to 
neglect if they would taste the real flavour of Japanese 
literature. 

The most conspicuous thing in the history of the 
Japanese nation is the fact that the unbroken 
Imperial line of one dynasty has persisted from the 
foundation of the State onward to the present day. 
On the other hand, this historical fact makes the 
relation between the Imperial family and the subjects 
much more intimate, and suggests a firmer unity to 
the national spirit. And, naturally, it is affirmed 
that we should consider history not merely as " the 
record of change," but as a process of thought ; thus 
we ought not only to investigate external events but 
also to consider the relations of fact and thought in 
history, and to ascertain their general principles. 
This method is especially necessary in trying to 
understand the history of other nations. Perhaps 
the spirit of history has seldom been more truly 
appreciated than in the well-known quotation, " Das 
Beste, was wir von der Geschichte haben, ist der 
Enthusiasmus, den sie erregt " (" The best benefit we 
derive from history is the enthusiasm which it 

37 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

excites ") . From this point of view, the essence of the 
history of Japan has not yet been fully understood 
by foreigners. It is not history alone which has been 
thus misunderstood ; for example, the mythical 
narratives about the foundation of the State are often 
misrepresented as mere fragmentary myths, whereas 
they form as they actually are a system of mythology 
comparable with those of Greece and India. But to 
know the essence of their history, attention should be 
paid to the historical spirit which has been developed 
continuously from the times of this mythology to the 
historically verifiable foundation of Japan ; their 
history should also be observed psychologically and 
socially, and their ideals should be thoroughly 
investigated in the light of the facts of their history. 
Besides the features we have been considering, the 
differentiated developments of Buddhism and 
Christianity in Japan are most to be noticed. To 
speak only of the influence of Confucianism and 
Taoism. Many Japanese systems of ethical doctrines 
have developed from these teachings, and have 
enriched Japanese morals : such are Ko-gaku, which 
tends to return to the ancient teachings of Confucius 
and Mencius ; Yomei-gaku, which unites knowing 
and doing ; Shushi-gaku, 1 which concerns reverence 

1 Concerning Ko-gaku, Yomei-gaku, Shushi-gaku, etc., Cf. 
Professor T. Inouye's pamphlet, Sur le Diveloppemeni des Idees 
Philosophiques au Japon avant I 'Introduction de la Civilisation 
Europienne. 

38 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

and the investigation of reason ; Eki-gaku, which is 
the philosophy of change ; Shin-gaku, which is the 
science of mind culture ; Shugen-do, which might be 
called a system of Japanese Taoism, etc. Especially 
Ninomiya Sontoku, the founder of the doctrine of 
gratitude and recompense, Miura Baien, who 
emphasized the science of natural principles, are both 
most worthy of notice, not only for the great number 
of their works, but also by reason of their originality 
in philosophy. As regards other sciences there are 
astronomy, military science, phytology, mathematics, 
etc. * These have their own histories, which may 
be very interesting for foreign peoples to investigate. 



III. Moral Apprehension, Especially 
Concerning Bushido. 

Bushido has recently come to be better understood 
by the world, still not a few things are wrongly 
interpreted by many foreigners. Especially what 
need to be made clear are the fundamental mis- 
understandings OF THE DOCTRINES OF LOYALTY 
and filial piety. Objections sometimes take this 
form : what is most appreciated in Bushido is the 

i Special attention should be called to A History of Japanese 
Mathematics, by Smith and Mikami, published in 1914 t>Y the 
Open Court Publishing Co. 

39 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

ideal of loyalty and filial piety, but this ideal pushes 
the patriotism of the nation to an extreme, fosters 
exclusive feelings, and calls out an effect which is 
dangerous to international relations. It can be shown, 
however, that this is a prejudiced opinion which would 
damage the reality of the teaching by means of its 
forms. Loyalty and filial piety were originally the 
ways of serving a lord or a father, by the subject or 
the son, with all his heart and strength ; it is a teaching 
which proceeds from human sincerity, and is fluid, 
not rigid, in its methods of expression. * But it can 
hardly help changing into a bigoted doctrine when 
it becomes petrified as a teaching applicable to only 
one nation, and like a dry specimen takes on certain 
hard forms of a particular age. It seems to me, 
however, that the content of the teaching is wide 
and practical enough to take forms of expression 
according to any time and place. The way of 
Bushido ought to be trodden not only nationally, 
but also individually. The Japanese from remote 
times have believed in the motto : " Duty is 
weightier than a mountain, death is lighter than a 
feather " when circumstances call for heroic acts. 
This is the same spirit which the " noble army " 
of Western martyrs has displayed from the time of 
St. Stephen onwards. Many of them fully believed 
that — like the acorn of the Pasania, flowing on the 

1 Cf. Inazo Nitobe, Bushido, 1905, p. 175. 
40 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

mountain stream — they could only rise to the surface 
by losing the body. Such a spirit of sacrifice is 
not strange to the teaching of Christ who said : 
" He that loseth his life for My sake shall find it " 
(Matt. x. 39). 

In Bushido not only loyalty and filial piety, but also 
valour, fidelity, honour, probity, simplicity, dignity, 
affection, etc., were all appreciated. But the spirit 
OF bushido which runs through or controls these 
virtues is really sincerity ; Bushido is the unflinching, 
resolute fulfilment of duties, which originates from, 
this pure sincerity, and its possessor does not hesitate 
to offer mind and body willingly when occasion 
actually demands. So Bushido is not precious merely 
for its revelation of valour, but what is precious is the 
spirit of sincerity revealed by valour. 1 The following 
ode expresses well its nature : 

" So that my whole heart could serve my lord, scarcely 
should I remember that my body existed." 

Bushido rooted itself in the spiritual ground of 
Japan from ancient times and was cultivated by 
means of the feudal systems ; its teaching is 
essentially a living one, which has been drawn from 
the complex and endlessly changing life-experience 
of the warrior. Though it was scientifically 
elaborated and systematically made authoritative 

1 Cf. The Imperial Precepts to the Soldiers and Sailors, English, 
translation, 1913, p. 13. 

4 1 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

through the profound and long continued peace of the 
Tokugawa period, yet the models were chiefly the 
living patterns which warriors stamped on posterity 
by practice. What is most appreciated is the 
thorough-going practical efficiency with which they 
accomplish what they know to be just and believe 
to be their duty, and the absolute rigidity of principle 
with which they adhere to practice even at the cost 
of life. 1 But the special point which has most 
value in its application to daily life lies in the 
practical training to act in the present moment, not 
relying on the morrow, for they vow to themselves 
that there is no to-morrow for the spirit. This gives 
an extraordinary resolution and practical efficiency, 
not only in war-time, but also in peaceful daily life. 
It is but a shallow judgment which would say rather 
scornfully that this is merely an eccentric way the 
Japanese have about such things. The fact remains 
that brilliant, flowery language is not characteristic 
•of Bushido, which acts on the motto : " Don't 
talk, but act." Some people think Bushido 
a narrow teaching which was confined to a 
particular caste in the past ; yet it actively 
survives to-day, being not only the foundation 
of the spirit of military men in Japan, but also 
an important element of the national spirit in 
.general. 

1 Cf. Herbert Moore, Bushido, 1913, p. 13. 
42 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

IV. Religious Apprehension, Especially 
Concerning Shinto. 

Confucianism, Buddhism, and Christianity, which 
flourish to-day in Japan, all had their origins abroad 
and have been transplanted and cultivated. Never- 
theless, besides these faiths, Japan has also her 
original national religion which sprang up 
spontaneously in the land— I mean Shinto, or " The 
Way of the Gods." Now the way of the gods is the 
way of sincerity ; it is nothing more nor less than the 
ideal way of human living, which a man can develop 
naturally by realising in pure sincerity what rises out 
of the inner depths of his spiritual nature. But 
there are few people in the world who do know the 
original nature of this way in detail and retain its 
spirit. For instance, to refer to ancestor-worship in 
Shinto. Many people think it a very shallow 
worship, regard its customs and manners as the 
proofs of the primitiveness of mental civilisation in 
Japan, and do not try to make any real investigation 

Of THE IDEAL INDICATED IN ANCESTOR-WORSHIP. 

But the Japanese recognise a deeper meaning and 
more practical value in the worship of ancestors than 
is ordinarily understood in the world. Though this 
worship is originally but a form of the religious 
impulses which can be seen among aU primitive 
nations, yet the reason why the Japanese in their 

43 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

present-day civilisation still continue to appreciate 
it must not be overlooked. * This worship is the 
tracing back to the past of the idea of filial piety, as 
it appears in reverence and love towards parents ; 
and it is the ardent religious impulse to realise to its 
utmost reach in past time the pure spirit of sacrifice 
which surges out of the inner sincerity. This attitude 
leads naturally to an awakened belief in the eternal 
spiritual reality, that is to say, the belief which they 
cultivate in the time-transcending worship of departed 
ancestors is the spring of their spiritual vitality. 
Therefore this worship is for them a power which 
enables them constantly to cultivate throughout life 
their sincerity of gratitude and obedience. a They 
can elevate themselves by the spirit and the 
experience of endeavouring to manifest their true 
sincerity through this worship. Just as a man 
ennobles himself by pouring out love towards others, 
so they improve themselves through this worship of 
ancestors, and they are fully aware of its practical 
value. In other words, through the sense of gratitude 
and obedience which they foster by this worship, they 
are really inspired and ennobled. It should not be 

1 Cf. " Ancestral Worship in Japan," Transactions of the 
Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. xxxviii., part iv., pp. 232-267. 

2 Cf. W. G. Aston, Shinto, the Way of the Gods, 1905, p. 6. Also 
concerning the idea that ancestor-worship is the source of 
virtues of the Japanese, see La Mazeliere, Essai sur L'histoire du 
Japon, pp. 26-28. 

44 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

overlooked, then, that the deep, genuine sincerity 
which Carlyle appreciated as " the first characteristic 
of all men in any way heroic " is being nourished in 
the Japanese by this worship, and the foreigner's 
disapprobation when he says : " What is the value 
of worshipping commonplace ancestors ? " must be 
due to the fact that he does not know that it springs 
from his own divine sense of gratitude and obedience. 

Again, our fathers and grandfathers are our former 
bodies, and our sons and grandsons are our future 
bodies ; thus we are the links between forefathers 
and descendants. Ancestors and posterity are thus 
connected spiritually as well as by blood ; that is why 
the worship of ancestors implies love of lineage and 
posterity. This being so, the foreigner's criticism 
that "it is better to worship descendants than 
ancestors " is of course nothing more than an aimless 
arrow. 

Ancestor-worship is deprecated by many foreigners 
because they consider it primitive in form. But it is 
noticed that this worship in Japan has been greatly 
developed in its content by its connection with the 
idea of the divine personality of a hero or an emperor. 1 
The living spirits of ancestors and descendants 
circulate for ever in this worship, until it becomes 
fused with the worship of racial life which is 

1 Cf. Professor Hans Haas, "Religion der J apaner" [1909-1913] 
(Archiv. fiir Religionswissenschaft, Band xvii., S. 270). 

45 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

constantly upspringing. Thus the strong point of this 
worship lies really in the groundwork it provides for 
Japanese solidarity. Though this spirit apparently 
seems very remote from that of Christianity, yet it is 
really the practical outcome of the same spirit as 
filial love towards the Heavenly Father in 
Christianity. 

The fact that in Shinto the actual man who once 
took earthly life is deified has been often attacked by 
foreigners as a proof that Japanese civilisation is after 
all very low. But to understand the practical 
meaning which the fact has in the national life it is 
necessary to realise the shojin principle, the 
principle of incessant progress, founded on the 
idea of the divine man in Shinto. 

Now the wonderful mystery of the spirit which 
abides in the human body (the microcosm as it is 
often called) is like unto the macrocosm. But the 
human yearning which seeks God's revelation in 
Nature naturally calls out also the desire to perceive 
the divine nature within the human soul. This is 
perhaps the reason why early in old Japan we see the 
belief of " Arahito-gami " (the visible God-man), 
according to which the people worshipped the Mikado 
because they perceived the divine dignity within him. 
Not only the Mikado. They also worshipped in heroes 
what was noble and great — superior to ordinary 
people. After the hero was dead they worshipped his 

46 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

hero-spirit. 1 Though his body was subject to death r 
yet apparently they perceived in his great spiritual 
personality an immortal, divine nature revealed by 
his pure, unselfish sincerity. This is why the 
Japanese, in the name of the State, deify not only 
Amaterasu Ohomi-Kami in Ise, but also many other 
heroes who have excelled in virtue and rendered great 
services to the State or society. Thus the belief that 
the divine nature can be discovered within the human 
soul — that belief is the power by which Shinto makes 
human beings progress and develop incessantly 
towards the highest ideal. They believe that the 
only way in which the human soul can surely evolve 
the divine nature is by the virtue of pure sincerity, 
arising from the inmost heart ; so they consider their 
deification of the human being as a mere form for the 
pursuit of their ideal. This is why Shinto, as the 
doctrine of the Japanese ideal, has a great significance 
in the life of the Japanese people ; to neglect this 
ideal and their effort to realise it is to neglect the 
spring of the real life of the nation. 

This conception of the immanence of the divine, 
in Shinto, can never be called an extravagant one. 
A similar tendency is to be found in the Western 
idea that the human soul shares the very essence of 
the Divine soul, the former having essential qualities 
in common with the latter ; and such phrases are 

1 Cf Ernil Schiller, Shinto, die V olksreligion Japans, 191 1, S. 35. 
47 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

io be found as : " The God in yourself " ; " The 

indwelling God " ; " God in the conscience." 

Goethe's words seem to correspond with this thought 

when he says : " Der Gott, der mir im Busen wohnt, 

kann tief mein Innerstes erregen " (" God who 

dwells in my breast can deeply stir my inmost 

being"). The same root-idea may be found in the 

Scriptures, where we read : — 

' " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is 
in heaven is perfect." — Matt. v. 48. 

or — 

" Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit 
of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." — 
Gal. iv. 6. 

It will be found, then, that a comparison of the 
immanent way of thinking in Shinto with the idea 
of the Divine immanence in Christianity is very 
illuminating. And the deification of man in Shinto 
not only in theory admits that " every human soul 
is a spark of the divine," but also in a thorough-going 
way exemplifies it as a historical fact. 

The cults of many gods in Japan are often a 
stumbling-block to foreigners, who regard the 
polytheism of Shinto as the stamp of a very primitive 
religious culture. But the idea of plurality is 
naturally associated with the deification of men — 
and is ingrained in the national fibre by reason of 
its proved effect. Though it is generally understood 

48 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

to have no relation with the monotheism of 
Christianity, yet really there is an intimate relation 
between them, as the conception of the One and the 
Many is necessarily co-related. There is the 
difference, that while Christianity, from its central 
standpoint, recognises one God, Shinto, from the 
standpoint of environment, recognises many gods ; 
and the relation between the two is as intimate as 
that of centre and circumference. Only the process 
is different. While Christianity, from the belief in 
one God, comes naturally to recognise the Divine 
Power in individual phenomena, so Shinto, while 
emphasising concretely the Divine Power which 
reveals itself in individual phenomena, early showed 
a tendency to unify phenomena pantheistically. 1 
Accordingly, the difference lies chiefly in this : 
while Christianity, as a religion especially concerned 
with life after death, sees one Controller of the 
universe, Shinto, as a religion primarily concerned 
with this present life, seeks concretely individual 
gods manifested practically in this earthly human 
life. Consequently, while the former is super-national 
the latter may be quite national. And the Shinto idea 
of gods, without remaining as primitive as it is often 
supposed to be by foreigners, really develops the 
contents of the ideas all the time, enriching human 

1 Cf. Dr. G. Kato's Pamphlet, Two Papers on Shintoism, 
1914, p. 9. 

49 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

conceptions of the spiritual world by contributing 
varieties, and enabling men to remedy the evils 
which are apt to remain impracticable when unity 
is sought abstractly and in a manner too remote from 
the complexities of real life. 

In short, in Shinto one should discover a deeper 
meaning than is ordinarily understood — a meaning 
which relates itself to the real life of humanity. And 
when Shinto is considered impartially it is obvious 
that it is religious, though not Christian, and in 
spite of its polytheism, as a religion it stands on 
common ground of human life with Christianity. x 

The impartial observer will find, then, the pure 
water, which has sprung up in the " evening 
(Western) land," has been found also in the " morning 
(Eastern) land ; " and further he will be able to 
find both in Shinto and Christianity the same religious 
significance for satisfying men's spiritual thirst. 
Once in the latter half of the eighteenth century, 
when to many foreigners Japan was still almost a 
myth, a Japanese patriot shouted that the water 
under the Nihon-Bridge (in Tokyo), on account of 
its circulation, is one with that in the Bays ,of 
America ; and so the two kinds of religion, when 
sounded to their depths, will both of them reveal 
that the same " water of life " underflows the surface, 
whether in East or West. 

1 Cf. Emil Schiller, Morgenroete in Japan, 1913, s. 7. 



THE GERMAN-JAPANESE WAR AND 
WORLD-MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 1 

Even in time of peace the true state of Japan has 
never yet been fully understood by the world. Not 
only so, but owing to this fact it is indisputable 
that the German- Japanese War has made the general 
misunderstanding of Japan still more and more deep 
and complex, and has given birth to many new 
suspicions and misunderstandings. Still, if we once 
consider the spiritual problems which this great war 
is to assign to the civilisation of the world after it is 
over, it is most necessary that to-day we should 
consider calmly and impartially the true circumstances 
of Japan's conduct of the war, quite apart from 
any idola fori in war-time. We want here, first of 
all, to refer to some foreign criticisms concerning 
Japan, consequent on the German- Japanese War, 
and to offer some comments thereon. 

1 I have inserted this chapter because I am anxious to deal 
with some important practical aspects of the question, not only 
on the sides of morality and religion, but also in connection with 
the situation of the present. The chapter is therefore meant to be 
an illustration on the text of the preceding pages, and also forms 
a kind of practical introduction to the following chapter. 

51 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

I. Various Rumours about the War of 
Japan with Germany. 

Scarcely had the event which occurred at first on 
one spot of the European Continent like a little stone 
thrown on the surface of the waters and gradually- 
enlarging its ripples reached the British Islands, 
when at that same moment the European confusion 
extended itself to the Far East. 

THE ANGLO-GERMAN WAR AND THE ATTITUDE OF 

japan at once became a topic of general interest. 
Not only Germany and Austria turned their anxious 
gaze Eastwards, but all the Powers concentrated 
their attention upon the action of Japan. And in 
this opportunity so full of interest Japan did not 
hesitate to make clear her attitude by carrying out 
the duties of her alliance with England, though 
she could not avoid incurring no little misunder- 
standing of the world in consequence. Among the 
causes which helped to bring about this misunder- 
standing we may include the lack of detail in the 
terms of the Anglo- Japanese alliance, surmises 
arising from lack of knowledge about the fact of 
political negotiations between Japan and Germany, 
the setting at defiance the considerations of 
psychology and the character of the Japanese race, 
ignorance of the faith and ideal of the Japanese 
nation, etc. 

52 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

rumours in Germany and Austria. x Germany 
and Austria gravely misunderstand Japan, in 
proportion to their lack of knowledge of things 
Japanese. Judging from their treatment of the 
Japanese who were in their countries at the beginning 
of the war, and other similar occurrences, it may 
perhaps be inferred that they have come to dislike 
and hate the Japanese as some birds dislike hairy 
caterpillars. At the outbreak of war between 
England and Germany the author himself was in 
Germany and heard such remarks as this : " Now 
England and Germany are really at war, Japan is 
watching to see which way the cat jumps, but 
surely Japan will not take the part of a nation of 
shopkeepers." Or, " As Japan fought with Russia 
formerly, she will be sure to help Germany by attack- 
ing Russia from behind." So it is not difficult to 
suppose that their hatred of Japan was increased 
when Japan's attitude failed to correspond to their 
expectation. Accordingly, when Japan declared 
war, it was said : " Japan is going to fight to get 
all the plums, for the Japanese are really very 
cunning." Or again : " Japan is fighting in the 
war for no reason but envy of the strength of 

i Doubtless the causes which have led to this war are 
numerous, but here the writer intends to treat only one aspect 
of the problem. He deals with historical facts, but does not 
make any prophecies concerning Japanese politics after the 
changed conditions caused by the present war. 

53 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

Germany ; the alliance with England is only a 
pretext." Another said : " Japan has no excuse 
for fighting against Germany, her attack on Tsintau 
is nothing but a pretext for getting territory in 
China." Yet another : " Japan by this act is aiming 
at holding complete sovereignty in the Pacific 
Ocean." (Cf. Staatszeitung, New York, August 27th, 
1914 ; Jiji Shimpo, Tokyo, August 19th and 20th, 
1914.) 

All must admit that Germany has contributed 
much in the past to the civilisation of the world by 
her extraordinary energy and diligence, and, whether 
they be allies or enemies, should impartially esteem 
her strong points. But the Germans, being so 
preoccupied with their own activities, have not been 
diligent enough in their study of foreign things ; 
and hence many foreigners have come to believe 
that " Germans are proud and disposed to look 
down on other nations as being beneath them." 
Since they have been at war they have grown to 
hate their enemies very bitterly, and their temper 
may be inferred from the use of such expressions as 
" Weh zu Nippon," " Asiatic despot," etc. 

But the real fact about this great war seems to be 
that the nations are not fighting because they hate one 
another, but it is much more the case that they hate 
one another because they are in conflict. If Germans 
and Austrians come to consider the origin of the war 

54 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

calmly, with that attitude of real investigation 
which in theory they advocate, they will be surprised 
to find how greatly they misunderstood foreign 
matters before the war. Then they will probably 
think more closely and accurately about the attitude 
of Japan, and to their surprise they will learn that 
the Japanese people believe to-day that they have 
as truly followed the natural course as water does 
when it flows downwards. 

When we turn to the rumours in England, we 
also find misunderstandings. In England men 
criticised the attitude of Japan while they also 
welcomed it in general much as follows : " Japan 
makes a dignified declaration of war for the sake of 
justice and right." Another says : " She fights for 
honour and freedom." Another : " She fights for 
the solemn treaty with England." And another : 
" Japan is nowadays playing a brave and important 
part in a war for the civilisation of the world," etc. 
(See The Times, July 25th, 1915, and The Japan 
Times, August 3rd, 191 5.) But among the English 
people themselves one sometimes hears it said that the 
real motive of Japan's declaration of war was revenge 
against Germany for causing her to lose the fruits of 
the Russo-Japanese War, for which they and their 
fathers had made such enormous sacrifices. Yet 
should not an ultimatum between two Powers 
demand some more important reason than a little 

55 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

resentment or enmity ? Sometimes, owing to a 
shallow mode of thinking, it is not realised that Japan 
declared war quite formally, and it is said that she 
acted rashly, merely availing herself of an oppor- 
tunity. But this is a mere supposition, and it should 
be known that Japan declared war quite in due form, 
after consulting with England in all sincerity. If 
this is the fact, then to have done otherwise would 
have been a miscarriage of Japan's execution of duty 
towards the Anglo- Japanese Alliance. 

rumours in neutral countries. Some Americans 
announced that Japan intended to act with great 
territorial ambition during this time, like a fire 
thief. One of the most eminent of American 
statesmen, after blaming the attitude of Japan, 
concludes thus : " Our true course should be to 
judge each nation on its conduct, unhesitatingly 
antagonising every nation that does ill." {The 
Weekly Dispatch, January 3rd, 1915.) This con- 
clusion would seem to anyone who understands 
Japanese affairs like judging Japan's acts without 
regarding them in their context. His remark is not 
exempt from the criticism that, even though it is 
true, in this case it is misapplied. However, to speak 
generally, the Americans seem to have considered 
that the Japanese attitude is natural. One says : 
" Japan's demand on Germany is quite in the proper 
way." Another says : " Though it is a direct benefit 

56 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

to Japan to ignore the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, her 
intention is nothing else than to fulfil her treaty 
obligations." Another says : " The noble action 
which Japan performed during this time in co- 
operating with England respecting the treaty will be 
recorded in history for ever." Another : " Japan is 
acting within her competence as an ally of England ; 
in her action towards the South Sea Islands, as- 
German estate, she is taking possession of them 
as England herself would do if her power were 
available." (Cf. Philadelphian Report, December 
23rd, 1915 ; Reuter's message from New York, 
August 18th, 1915.) 

During the days of the Chino-Japanese negotiations 
following the fall of Tsintau, both Powers for a time 
failed in securing what they wanted owing to mutual 
suspicions, yet the two peoples were not necessarily 
originally animated by mutual hatred. On Japan's 
declaration of war, the Chinese generally, except an 
openly pro-German section, seem to have looked with 
good feeling upon Japan's demands on Germany. It 
is reported that the President of the Chinese 
Government summoned to one room the Ministers of 
every department, and made the announcement that 
as Japan had acted with sincerity towards China and 
the general situation of the Orient, so they ought also 
to reward this with their honesty. (Telegraphic 
message from Pekin, August 23rd, 1914.) Another 

57 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

powerful Pekin newspaper stated : " We comprehend 
the true motive of Japan, which is going to act rightly 
according to the pronouncement of the Anglo- 
Japanese Alliance . . . and we are thankful to 
Japan which is so securely fastening the chain of the 
Anglo- Japanese Alliance." [Pekin Gazette, August 
31st, 1914.) 

In spite of the fact that Germans and Austrians 
are surrounded by enemies, they are still righting in 
high spirits — a fact which must excite the interest 
even of their enemies ; yet such sayings as " Germany 
is white like an angel, the Allies are black like 
devils," and " Japan, a yellow robber," if they really 
"believe what they say, surely shows that they 
entirely fail to understand their enemies. Neutral 
countries will certainly not consider the cause of the 
Allies as unjust as the Germans expect. What 
Professor Gang, of the University of Copenhagen, has 
-said is in harmony with impartial criticisms which are 
echoed from disinterested neutral countries, and 
therefore not to be considered as an isolated comment. 
He says : " The truth is claimed as a German 
monopoly ; the authors of the manifesto issued by 
German theologians, etc., at the beginning of the war 
assert that the Allies wish to rob Germany of her 
territory. What did Germany do to France in 1870, 
"and to us in 1864 . . . ? " And again : " The 
misfortune is that no German ever conceives it 

58 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

possible that any German can have committed any 
wrong against others." If such comments are really 
representative of neutral opinion, Germans must 
naturally share responsibility as regards the 
conditions under which the Allies came to declare 
war ; and also they should have much searching of 
heart as to how they are to understand other nations 
hereafter. 



II. The So-called " Yellow Peril " — 
Foundations of the Opinion. 

The popular phrase, the " Yellow Peril," which 
has become more familiar to our ears during this 
war, was originally made in Germany (as also was 
the term "Yellow robber"), whence it was 
exported to America, Australia, etc. Yet what 
grounds are there for this fear ? Is there as much 
justification for it as has been supposed ? It is 
most necessary, net only for the yellow race, but also 
for the white, that the truth about this should be 
known. 

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL GROUNDS. Now, 

there is no doubt that one of the reasons why this 
idea came about is the prevalence of racial hatreds 
and prejudices. In detail, these hatreds and 

59 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

prejudices are based on differences of race, character, 
language, history, manners and customs, morality, 
religion, etc ; yet why should these divergencies 
necessarily repel different races from one another ? 
For instance, if some people hate differences in the 
colour of the skin and hair of other nations, let 
them suppose that they had been born and bred 
in the same country ; they could hardly have 
escaped being coloured similarly. The softening of 
the feelings which arises from mutual understanding 
and friendship between two nations is, of course, 
most requisite for general progress, refreshing culture 
by imparting a great stimulus and vividness to the 
life of each, and giving a new direction to their 
evolution by breaking the monotony of isolated 
development. But their mutual antagonism is 
illusory ; it is the old habit of the uncivilised peoples, 
who used to regard all strangers with a hostility 
akin to that of wild beasts. It has long been a vain 
survival in modern civilisation, and by intensifying 
the blind feelings of humanity still deceives even 
highly-developed human understanding. In this 
connexion the words of Professor Alexander F. 
Chamberlain, as an anthropologist, are worthy of 
note when he declared : " For the anthropologist 
there is but one human race, whose seeming diver- 
sities are but the proof of its essential unity." l 

1 Cf. First Report of the Association Concordia of Japan, 1913, 
p. 16. 

60 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

In short, except by our illusionary ideas we cannot 
find any theoretical foundation strong enough to 
justify this fear of the Yellow Peril bogey, and it is 
plain that it includes many irrational sentimental 
prejudices among what are considered its funda- 
mental arguments. 

Secondly, in addition to the reasons arising from 
racial prejudices, there is the supposed danger that, 
as the yellow race impedes the interests of the white 
race and is checking the civilising progress of the 
latter practically, some day or other the East may 
impose great pressure on the destiny of the West. 
But for the social deveploment of human beings 
and the fulness of life the mutual aid of all is 
necessary ; it is quite plain, as Mazzini thought 
that human beings when isolated are weak and 
inferior to many beasts in strength while they are 
capable of multiplying their strength by co-operative 
action. Co-operation is the art and manner of 
making others' thoughts and progress our own, 
and of adding others' powers to our own. It is a 
mistake to confine our attention to only that side 
of the Darwinian teaching which shows that the 
weak fall a prey to the strong ; mutual aid is also a 
most important element of social evolution, and 
by competition in goodness the human spirit evolves. 
Finally, we must not forget that mutual love is the 
foundation of social combination, and co-operation 

61 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

is the most important factor of social progress. 
Every nation, then, should remember that each can 
be improved only in proportion as it holds more 
intimate and comprehensive intercourse and cultivates 
more extended contact and communication with 
others. And if the nations must have free inter- 
communication for the sake of self-development, 
why should they not try to promote mutual happiness 
by reciprocal love and °o-operation, by uniting 
themselves with others spiritually, penetrating to 
one another's very soul and deeply influencing their 
inner life with human sympathies and sincerity ? 
Thus they might enlarge the sphere of action of 
morality for more extended duties, and set the eyes 
which have been misled by seeming reality upon the 
more valuable common aims of humanity, diligently 
rivalling one another in manly courage and- noble 
spirit. Among the sayings of Japan there is one 
that runs : " Do not be afraid when treading on 
justice," which may perhaps be freely translated 
as the equivalent . of , "Be just and fear, not." If 
one has, on looking within, the conscious sincerity 
which would die for justice, and the courage to run a 
fair race by means of real ability, why is it necessary 
to exclude or to be afraid of even foreign nations ? 
Even the White races are always one another's 
enemies if their method of competition is not good ; 
and even the Yellow races, if their method of 

62 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

competition is not bad, do not fail to remain always 
useful friends. There is therefore a way of 

DESTROYING THE FEAR OF THE " YELLOW PERIL." 

We have seen that neither theoretically nor 
practically is there any basis originally for fear of the 
Yellow Peril, though unhappily there is some seeming- 
reason for it to-day, as their methods of competition 
are not the best ; and its effect being not only profit- 
less but harmful, it should be got rid of as soon as 
possible, in order to be free from narrow national 
prejudices, and to extend the free spirit higher and 
broader to include all the humanity in the world. 
Fear of the Yellow races does not arise necessarily 
because they are crafty, but from perverted ideas 
and imaginings born of the suspicion that they are 
crafty ; and suspicion creates evil where the nations 
might contribute to the happiness of one another. 
But such racial prejudices should not be saved 
from natural extinction when the real character 
of the suspected races becomes evident to clearer 
vision. As a matter of fact, the " Yellow Peril " 
delusion is so foolish that it hardly deserves 
contradiction. But so long as there are those who 
run about solemnly calling out such opinions (like 
somnambulists attacked with racial nightmare), 
it will be necessary to endeavour to combat their 
delusions, so that reason may not be led astray by 
nervous sentiment, but that a manly, tolerant courage 

63 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

towards other races grows up among the nations- 
For the sake of the mutual well-being and honour of 
humanity such delusions must be driven away from 
the world of our memory for ever, and in order to 
•dry up the origin and wither the root of such 
mischievous opinions the fundamental understanding 
of every nation by its fellows must be carefully 
and definitely planned. 

New fuel for world-suspicion to feed on was 
afforded by the recent negotiations between China 
and Japan, yet an impartial judgment could not 
fail to recognise the true facts when the surrounding 
clouds of prejudice were broken up. In the days 
when the negotiations between China and Japan 
were opened, there were many people in Europe 
and America who were concerned to know whether 
Japan would invade China in the opportunity given 
by the European confusion ; and they considered 
the negotiations as an expression of the Japanese 
ambition to establish a supremacy over China. It 
was said : " Japan intends practically to rule China," 
and again : " Japan is in danger of losing the friend- 
ship of the world by standing now on the precipice 
of morality." (Cf. Public Opinion, May 14th, 
1915.) This hostile feeling towards Japan was 
further intensified by an appeal to the Powers by 
some Chinese, who said Japan intended to invade 
China. Anyone, however, who had minutely 

64 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

observed the Japanese spirit, the love of justice 
1 and honour, and the temper of sturdiness and artless- 
ness, might readily have inferred that the demands 
were not spasmodic and unnatural, but the inevitable 
issue of the national temper and spirit along the lines 
of past evolution. In this connexion a remark by 
the Prime Minister of Japan is worth notice : " It is 
not at all a matter of invading the integrity of China, 
nor does it refer to that of other countries. Japan's 
will at this time is nothing but to maintain 
authentically, by an express provision, what has 
been practically within Japan's competence, in 
order to facilitate the future intercourse of both 
countries. It is a problem which can be solved 
quite easily if only China will confide in Japan." 

III. The Origin of Japan's Share in the War. 

Anyone who asks why Japan threw herself into the 
whirlpool of the European confusion ought first of 
all to ask himself why the European Powers are 
engaged in this most tragic war. It is, of course, 
superficial to think that the war had its rise on the 
day when it broke out. Nor can we stop at merely 
tracing its political causes. In any case where 
nations come into armed conflict the probability is 
that a metaphysical war has preceded it ; the 
spiritual worlds must have been in conflict before the 

65 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

physical. In other words, together with political 
processes we should look for the deeper causes which 
have long been mentally preparing in the ideas of the 
nations. In connection with this we come across 

A GRAVE MISUNDERSTANDING AND FALLACY. 

One of the greatest misunderstandings and 
mistakes — which should be considered with the 
complicated reasons concerning economic and other 
ambitions, political tactics, etc. — is the belief that 
to be self-centred and self-sufficient, neglecting all 
relations and responsibilities towards others, is the 
way for a people to make itself not only the strongest 
but the fittest in the struggle for existence. The 
Germans' " self -consciousness of excellence" made 
them neglectful of close reflection on their inner nature, 
and they miscalculated the real character of others. 
It is self-evident that the " might is right " idea, as 
represented by Nietzsche, and the pan-Germanism 
of Treitschke, Bernhardi, etc., will not maintain the 
self as always the fittest, for to do so would be to 
ignore wholly the spirit of national friendship and 
co-operation. However, we must notice here that 
misunderstanding of other nations is not confined to 
Germany and Austria. In England and the Allied 
countries there are many who suppose that all 
Germans followed Treitschke and Bernhardi in 
desiring the war, but, whatever the present attitude 
of the nation as a whole, anyone who has lived with 

66 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

them for a long time and knows their inner life, could 
hardly assert that war was the will of all the nation. 

A German Professor says : " Germany did not 
wish this war, it was forced on her. . . . Any 
thought of conquest was foreign to us." And he also 
discourses ardently on " the unshaken belief in the 
righteousness of the cause of Germany," referring to 
the following aphorism : " Es kann der Froemmste 
nicht im Frieden bleiben, wenn es dem boesen 
Nadibar nicht gefaellt." 

It is easier to believe this, as well as the manifesto 
of the German professors and theologians, and to 
suppose that even among the Germans there has been 
circulating the same neighbourly feelings possessed by 
the Allies — it is easier to concede this than to believe 
that they are deceiving others and themselves by 
fabricating what they know to be wholly untrue. 
Let it be granted, then, that many Germans probably 
obeyed the voice of conscience. If Englishmen — 
who all admit now how little they have understood 
German affairs — if they will not admit some such 
explanation, but declare dogmatically : *' All 
Germans are liars and hypocrites," will it not be a 
similar misunderstanding to that of the Germans who 
in their blind hate for Englishmen believe that they 
are fighting solely for cunning motives ? A writer of 
a book that foretold the war formerly wrote : " Just 
as surely as every German says to-day, ' War 

67 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

with England will never be, unless England starts it,' 
so every Englishman whom I ask says to me, ' War 
with Germany will never be, unless Germany starts 
it.' " 

But if the nations did not want war, how could a 
war demanding such a sacrifice of blood and treasure 
occur between them ? Russia says that at first she 
had no intention to fight ; her mobilisation was 
simply to check Austria's designs on Servia. France 
says she showed the sincerity of her desire for peace 
by observing the neutrality of Belgium. England 
says she endeavoured to the last to mediate between 
the countries. Germany says she was obliged to act 
to have the upper hand of Russia, as her attitude was 
challenging and her action insincere. Thus both sides 
seek to throw the responsibility on each other — 
indeed, who would have the responsibility for it ? 
Probably no country had at first the will to fight, but 
did they not all develop what was in truth a mutual 
menace to established conditions, a mutual suspicion 
and misunderstanding ? If that be the case, it 
follows that to comprehend each other truly must be 
the first condition of happy relations between 
different countries. But to have such mutual under- 
standing their mind must be, as the Easterns have it, 
" like a clear mirror or like still water," which can 
only come about by getting rid, firstly, of hatred 
towards other nations, and, secondly, of the prejudice 

68 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

of thinking themselves alone in the right. In such 
an impartial way must anyone study the facts if they 
wish to know the circumstances which determined 
Japan in opening the war. 

First of all, it must be considered what is involved 
in the anglo-japanese alliance, which is quite 
new in the world's memory. It is already recognised 
by the Powers that the aim of this Alliance is the 
co-operation of England and Japan in securing 
oriental peace and the protection of the commercial 
intercourse of both countries in the Far East. The 
Alliance not only became a formal link joining 
England and Japan politically, but also the relations 
of both countries arising from it are naturally 
secured by moral responsibility. As a matter of 
course, therefore, the Japanese at this time thought 
they could not ignore the Treaty without deceiving 
England altogether, and make a " scrap of paper " of 
the friendly relations which had hitherto existed. 
Not only so, when England declared war on Germany 
she called on Japan in virtue of the Alliance to help 
her. Thus The Times said : — 

" In consequence of Germany's having forced us to 
engage in war, our commerce in the seas of East Asia 
was driven to the verge of crisis. Thereupon we 
appealed to our Ally, on the strength of the agreement 
of the alliance, and Japan, as we expected, faithfully 

69 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

responded to our appeal." — The Times, July 25th, 
1915 ; also compare the account of the Russo-Japanese 
Alliance in The Daily Chronicle, July 8th, 1916, and 
The Times, July 8th, 1916. 

This demand on the part of England doubtless 
explains why, at the time when Japan declared war, 
many Japanese newspapers argued that Japan was 
only going to do her duty. Let us, however, go 
psychologically deeper into the matter, and consider 
the ideas and motives lying at the bottom of the 
Japanese mind. , 

japan's motives in opening the war. What 
greatly determined the attitude of Japan, besides 
the fact of her alliance with England, and also 
England's request for interposition, was undoubtedly 
her clear recognition of the cause for which England 
had been compelled to throw herself into this war. 
Even neutral countries cannot fail to recognise the 
German conduct in the destruction of the neutrality 
of Belgium and other acts as manifestations of 
vandalism, based on the principle " might is right ; " 
and they cannot but admire how England has been 
united within herself " in defence of freedom and 
humanity," " in resistance against infringement of 
the international rights of Belgium," " in the 
fulfilment of obligations to France and Russia," 
" in the help of little Belgium," " in the advocacy of 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

maintaining the paramount obligations of fidelity to 
a plighted word." Undoubtedly Englishmen believe 
they are fighting for the right cause, just as the 
Germans make the same claim. And Japan, after 
deliberately weighing the rival claims, believed it 
necessary, not only for her own honour and fidelity, 
but also for justice and right, to help England, the 
ally of pacifism, and to resist Germany, the destroyer 
of order ; Japan believed she could not reject the 
call of England without national dishonour. This 
dual call — "for the sacredness of international 
duty," " for sincerity to an ally " — was it not, 
then, without any room for self-deception, genuinely 
justifiable on the ground that " a man's word is 
his bond ? " 

But we must not neglect to notice also Japan's 
willingness to fight for the eternal peace of the 
Orient. That is to be seen from some phrases, which 
we will quote, concerning japan's declaration 

OF WAR. 

In the text of the declaration of war it is said : 
" For the sake of maintaining the Eternal Peace of 
the Orient." And again : " We, in spite of our ardent 
devotion to the cause of peace, are thus compelled to 
declare war." These expressions indicate the fact 
that Japan's declaration of war against Germany was 
necessary, in order to keep the terms of the Anglo- 
Japanese Alliance and secure the Eternal Peace of 

7i 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

the Orient. 1 How this peace was threatened is 
further seen by reference to " German men-of-war 
and armed vessels which are prowling around the 
seas of Eastern Asia menacing our commerce and that 
of our Ally." a What is here to be noticed is that 
Japan tried to attain her aim by peaceful means as 
far as possible, though evidently she had no lack of 
fighting ability at this time. In her ultimatum the 
unprecedentedly long time she gave for reply is an 
indication of Japan's sincere love for peace. And her 
declaration of war, when she got no reply from 
Germany, inferred a natural endeavour to remove, 
as an English writer expressed it, " the cause of 
trouble and danger which disturbed the peaceful 
progress of Japan," and to thwart aggressors who at 
any time might have designs upon her. If that 
really be the case, people who admit the truth of the 
following sentence would have no reason to wonder 
at the conduct of the Japanese 3 : — 

" Ein Friede, der der Befuerchtung ausgesetzt ist, 
jeden Tag, jede Woche gestoert zu werden, hat nicht 
den Wert eines Friedens ; ein Krieg ist oft weniger 

1 Cf. H. W. Wilson, The Great War, part 36 (Japan's part in 
the great war described and pictured, p. 90). 

8 Cf. The Times History of the War, part 24 (Japanese number, 
P- 397)- 

3 Concerning German criticism on Japan, cf. Dr. Fritz 
Wertheimer, Deutschland und Ostasien, S. 13 (Der Deutsche 
Krieg, 14 Heft), 1914. 

72 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

schaedlich fuer den allgemeinen Wohlstand als ein 
solcher unsicherer Friede." — Bismarck, in the 
Prussian Chamber of Deputies, 30th January, 1869. 
(" A peace which is exposed to fear that it may 
be broken any day, any week, has not the value 
of peace at all. A war is often less injurious for the 
general welfare than such an insecure peace.") 

In view of the facts it is needless for the Japanese 
to claim that the fulfilment of their pledge to England, 
in declaring war on Germany, was not only an act of 
justice, but a duty for which they had not only legal 
sanction but a clear conviction on ethical grounds. 



IV. Peace and War. 

One of the mistaken ideas of foreigners about 
Japan arises from their ready supposition of Japanese 
warlike feeling, while ignoring their love of peace. 
Peace ideas in Japan have their source in a far-off, 
divine age, and as a power for conserving order 
were handed down in the mind and history of the 
people. In the national mythology (that is, the 
mythology concerned with the foundation of Japan), 
Ama-terasu Oho-mi-kami, the Goddess who tradition- 
ally played the greatest role in the founding of the 
state, was the Sun Goddess, the Guardian Goddess 
of Peace. And the peace idea in japan, from 

73 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

the oldest times, was much cherished by the 
national tradition about this Goddess. In the 
national tradition you will find that the Japanese 
evolved many wonderfully interesting narratives 
representing the working out of a great catastrophe, 
when peace and order were lost to the world and the 
evil Powers were rampant — all caused by the 
" concealment in the heavenly rocky cave " of this 
Sun Goddess ; but they make her reappearance from 
the cave the occasion of a glorious victory which 
gives eternal peace to the world. x It is natural to 
suppose that this ideal of Peace after struggle — of 
a true tranquillity as distinguished from a merely 
temporary peace — which appeared in their mythology 
has continued through their history and impressed 
itself deeply on the psychology of the race. This 
spirit of appreciation of peaceful amity expressed 
itself very plainly later on in the Seventeen Articles 
of the Constitution of Shotoku Taishi (a.d. 572- 
622), and it has been regarded as a most important 
doctrine from that time onward. 2 Thus, to those 
who are well acquainted with the history of the 
Japanese people it will not be a matter of wonder 
at all if the people in their hearts think it just to 
declare war against anyone whom they believe to 
be a destroyer of peace. 

1 Cf. Dr. Karl Florenz, Japanische Mythologie, 1901, S. 94. 

2 Cf. David Murray, Japan, pp. 108, 416. 

74 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

What is called " love " in Christianity has been 
known in Japan as " jin " (meaning humanity), 
and this virtue has been represented in a jewel, 
one of the three decorations which together make 
up the divine regalia. But " jin," which lacks 
dignity, is apt to be slighted and can hardly attain 
its proper aim. To rectify this weakness they have 
appreciated, on the other hand, " chi " (wisdom), 
and " yu " (courage), symbolised respectively by 
a mirror and a sword, — these forming the other 
two decorations of the divine regalia. When these 
two, wisdom and courage, combine in righteousness 
and justice, the blend is sometimes represented by 
the word " gi " ; and as the Japanese can find in 
Nature (which they love) the two faculties of life- 
giving and killing, so they cultivate both sympathy 
and dignity by appreciating " jin " and " gi " equally. 
This dualism has been increasingly developed through 
military life during feudal times. We can often 
see the idea of " jin " and " gi," as in the relation 
of parent to child, where punishment is inflicted 
from motives of love and duty ; and in any righteous 
conflict such would be the relation between love 
and war, because war arising from the idea of " gi " 
does not necessarily change the heart of love. Thus 
the reason for their appreciating " chi " and " yu," 
on the one hand, while esteeming " jin," on the other, 
is possibly nothing but the same reason why in 

75 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

Christianity, while love for enemies is to be the 
dominating principle, yet there are occasions when 
moral indignation has its place in any righteous soul, 
and stern action, such as Jesus took when He drove 
the buyers and sellers out of the temple, becomes 
a positive necessity. 

Love and hatred are the two poles of one and the 
same life ; and to think that they have no relation 
to each other is undoubtedly a mistake. Love of 
what is good, and hatred of what is evil, are both 
means by which progress is achieved, and this implies 
that we must learn to discriminate when apportioning 
praise or blame. It can bring nothing but disaster, 
however, when children are taught, in the way German 
children are now being taught, to hate Englishmen. 
As Schiller remarks : — 

" Denn Krieg ist ewig zwischen List und Argwohn, 
Nur zwischen Glauben und Vertraun ist Friede, 
Wer das Vertraun vergiftet, O der mordet 
Das werdende Geschlecht im Leibe der Mutter." 

(" War is ever engendered between Cunning and Suspicion, 
Peace is only possible by the Union of Faith and Trust, 
He who poisons Trust murders 
The coming generation in the womb of its Mother.") 

But as the firmest friends sometimes make the 
bitterest enemies, so vice versa, the intensity of 
antagonism may reveal subtle affinities of spirit, 
which assert themselves far more powerfully when 

76 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

the fire of hate has burnt itself low, than would have 
been possible had the relation always been one of 
mere indifference. And this gives ground for hope 
that it may be possible to find the opportunity 
which shall evolve the germs of true friendship 
and cause a new relation between the warring 
Powers : the great need is that they should reach 
a reciprocal spiritual understanding of each other 
as the consequent of the war. For they are now in 
the struggle, and must fight it out to the bitter end, 
which may yet, as in the case of Russia and Japan, 
lead to a real mutual understanding. The Japanese 
have a proverb to the effect that " the earth is made 
secure by a great rain," a saying whose significance 
lies in the better facilities afforded for travel in that 
country after a heavy downpour which has swept 
away the mud, and is perhaps somewhat equivalent 
to the English expression that " the darkest hour 
preludes the dawn." 

In short, we may say that although a time-serving 
and makeshift peace, or " peace at any price," is 
not to be desired, yet war is not an ultimate aim. 
And every nation ought forthwith to investigate its 
moral and religious, with its economic and political 
foundation — on which future peace must necessarily 
be established — seeking to strengthen these founda- 
tions by mutual understanding of its fellows. For 
on what other basis than this fundamental fraternity 

77 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

of nations can the new ideal of international peace 
be established ? 



V. A Neo-Japanism. 

The idea well known from the oldest times in 
the Orient of " every day new, day by day new, 
and every day new again," has been continually 
realised by the Japanese who are given to learning 
new things by cherishing the old. But there are 
not a few people in the world who sometimes picture 
present-day Japan to themselves (after the manner 
of the psychometrist) by grasping the relics which 
lie buried in the records of Old Japan ; it must be 
said, however, that sometimes while seizing the veil 
they allow the shrouded figure within to escape. To 
mention some conspicuous examples. First, they 
credit the Japanese with still possessing feelings of 
hostility towards foreigners, which they suppose to 
have persisted from a past policy of isolation and 
aggressiveness towards other peoples. Many 
Christian missionaries, who in early times came over 
to Japan and engaged in missionary work, fell into 
a fundamental error, too characteristic of missionary 
enterprise. l Instead of making an accurate study 
of the original thoughts and beliefs of Japan, and 

1 Cf. Missionsinspektor Lie. Theol. J. Witte, Ostasien and 
Europa, 1914, S. 163. 

78 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

working from them, they ignored them in their 
fervid haste to plant new doctrines. This is one of 
the reasons why at that time they gained the 
antipathy instead of the sympathy of the nation, 
and made it necessary for the Government to take 
the course of excluding foreigners. However, with 
the accession of the Meiji this policy of excluding 
foreigners was altogether superseded by the 
determination to open up the country and foster a 
progressive spirit. Critics often assume that this 
new policy was a mere political reformation, but 
that judgment is based upon shallow observation. 
The new attitude was undoubtedly designed to have 
a spiritual as well as a political realisation, and its 
actual effect was to establish firmly the great 
principle of opening up the country and fostering 
progress. This is the spirit of new Japan, which 
is altogether different from the old exclusiveness 
and isolated self -development, and is plainly 
expressed in the Five Articles in the form of oaths, 
which Meiji Tenno, the late Japanese Emperor, at 
the time of his accession to the throne, swore most 
solemnly to the gods of heaven and earth to observe, 
according to the Shintoistic way of expressing 
sincerity. 

Secondly, on the other hand, there are some 
foreigners who make the criticism that modern 
Japan has changed entirely for the worse, by giving 

79 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

herself up to profit-making and craftiness, going 
after new things and losing the fine, simple qualities 
of olden times. But the modernisation, by the 
opening up of Old Japan and the newly-awakened 
vigour, is a new endeavour along the lines of the 
former Japanese ideal. Therefore it is very difficult 
to ascertain generally that Japan has entirely changed. 
Further, Japanese development cannot rest satisfied 
with a merely self-centred, narrow knowledge ; 
for in the Articles of the Oath it is stated that she 
should seek knowledge widely in the world and 
follow the highway of heaven and earth ; and in 
the Imperial Rescript on Education by the same 
Emperor Meiji it is stated that the Japanese ideal 
should have its origin in the just way, which is the 
same in all ages, and the consistent way, applicable 
to internal as well as to foreign relations. It is 
plain, therefore, that the Oath and the Imperial 
Rescript expressed formally the spirit of the Japanese 
ideal, which is the quest of universal truth. It is 
not, then, at all by chance that Japan makes it her 
aim to recognise the strong points of other countries 
and introduce them boldly and rationally without 
being restrained by sentimental feelings. Though 
this tolerant spirit has been conspicuous in Japanese 
life from the beginning, yet naturally it was especially 
cultivated through the feudal age, while the feudal 
lords strove with one another to excel in the virtues 

80 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

of their lord, and the virtue of tolerance was very 
much appreciated as an important qualification of 
an enlightened ruler who would admit the direct 
advice of his followers. And Neo-Japanism is 
nothing else than the manifestation of this historical 
spirit by the late Emperor of Japan, who in himself 
realised this virtue of tolerance and encouraged its 
universal cultivation. It is hardly necessary to say 
that when this principle of trying to understand 
others impartially was applied by the nation, it 
would readily be able to cultivate the co-operative 
spirit with other nations ; and to consider the modern 
activities of Japan as a manifestation of a narrow 
nationalism or a utilitarianism which fails of any 
lofty ideal is unquestionably a great mistake. x 
What reason is there, then, why Japan should not 
unite morally with the other nations who pursue 
noble ideals and develop a sincere national friendship 
with them ? 



VI. The Strife of Nations and its Morality. 

It is a fact that war may have a beneficent effect 
in purifying society and evolving human culture. 
Accordingly it has been said : " Alles entsteht durch 

1 Cf. W. Hueckel, Kaempje und Siege des Ckristentums in 
Japan, S. 13. 

8l 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

den Streit " ("All things spring from strife"), and 
" Der Krieg ist der Vater allerDinge " ("War is the 
father of all things ") . But that beneficent effects may 
follow from war is no reason for assigning war as the 
only factor capable of developing civilisation, for 
considering that war must necessarily be encouraged, 
or for believing it altogether impossible to do away 
with war. War is not a mechanical work of men 
acting under the will of some non-human being, but 
really occurs only from the human will to fight ; 
and where men decide not to fight no war can be 
provoked. In the next place, if we consider war as 
indiscriminate fighting, it is devoid of morality, for 
the most important ideal element of war, a lofty 
motive, is lacking ; and in present-day warfare the 
absence of such ideal always involves final dis- 
advantage. Now it is a great defect in the ideal of 
national morality wholly to neglect to see what root 
relation its own morality has with the morality of 
other nations. Just as the morality of a nation, 
though not altogether the same as individual morality 
yet is never independent of it, so international 
morality (as regulating relations with foreigners) 
should not be confounded with national morality 
per se, yet is never dissevered from it. Thus as 
national morality is connected with that of the 
individual on the one hand, so it is also connected 
with international morality on the other ; and all 

82 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

three stand on the common grounds of moral 
principle, though in detail they are not quite the 
same. It follows, therefore, that a national egotism 
which ignores other nations — which adopts such 
principles as : " The State is self-sufficient ; " " The 
maintenance and development of its own power and 
well-being is the supreme principle of politics ; '' 
" The State can only have regard to the interest of 
any other State so far as this can be identified with 
its own interest " — can never succeed in making a 
State truly fit for its place in the world. Doubtless 
it is highly important for any nation to consider how 
social evolution may best be secured, but attention 
has often been very one-sided in considering this 
matter. Two definite lines of evolution must be 
recognised : (i) evolution in the world of biological 
phenomena, which arises from conflicts of the strong 
preying on the weak ; and (2), on the other hand, 
spiritual evolution, which springs from the factors of 
self-sacrifice and mutual aid. Rivalries and conflicts 
are equally important in both cases, but in one the 
struggle is for goodness and beauty in the battle of 
social life. This higher ideal element plays a most 
important part in present-day contests between 
civilised peoples ; and the one-sided principle of 
fighting by mere force, the indiscriminating affirma- 
tion that " might is right," must be altogether 
rejected. What we thus learn from a broad 

83 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

consideration of the evolutionary process is quite in 
accord with the Oriental doctrine of self-sacrifice, 
which has developed from the idea of the microcosm 
as opposed to the macrocosm, or from the conception 
of " man as being a child of heaven." With such 
sanctions, then, the doctrine of " love to God and 
love to man " should be regarded as the principle 
upon which international peace must be based. In 
other words, among the most important principles 
which any State should remember in its international 
relations are the following : — 

i. Physical strength and intellect are not the only 
essentials for progressive human life, but also beauty 
and goodness. 

2. Consequently the new ideal of international 
peace should be constructed not only on political 
and economic, but also on spiritual, that is, moral and 
religious, foundations ; and such foundations might 
well be claimed as the only worthy national principles 
and political ideals for every country. 

Now with regard to the great problems which the 
present great war has proposed to the civilisation of 
the world, nothing could be more pressing than the 
question of international morality, originating from 
the idea of humanity, which has been developing in 
recent times. A most important feature of that 
morality is an appreciation of the freedom and dignity 

84 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

of each nation, as we appreciate the freedom and 
dignity of individuals ; and, as a matter of course, if 
the attitude of disdaining other nations and ignoring 
small countries is to be revised, the principle of 
" To attack is the right of the strong," and the 
fundamental idea that " envy and hatred between 
nations are natural and right," must be given up in 
the future. And the people who have a higher 
civilisation and stronger traits of character, govern- 
ment, position, etc., should not use these advantages 
for selfish ends, but endeavour to contribute to 
others according to their ability. This is merely 
the quality of self-restraint, which must not be 
lacking if the strong is to continue to maintain 
his qualification as a superior. As the Oriental 
saying has it : — 

" The superior man does not exhaust himself ; that is 
how he attains completeness." 

Accordingly, the nation which progresses itself, and 
at the same time appreciates the value of the 
individuality of other nations, approaches that spirit 
of reverence for others which Goethe regards as the 
essence of religion — a spirit, indeed, which makes 
the first requirement of an international morality 
concerned with a wider humanity. And as nations 
come into closer contact and feel more the necessity 
of understanding one another's conditions, and in 
proportion as the intercourse becomes rapid in 

85 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

succession, it is clear that they ought to rid them- 
selves not only of prejudices but also of the 
indifference and the aloofness which have marked 
the foreign relations of the Great Powers — England 
is not blameless in this respect — up to the present 
time. And it need hardly be said that such a general 
cultivation of friendship among the nations, by 
removing the causes of friction which arise from the 
lack of mutual understanding, would powerfully 
demonstrate that international peace depends not 
so much upon diplomacy as upon international 
morality. 

If that were so, and yet nations found themselves 
unavoidably at war, they should nevertheless observe 
morality, even in conflict, and fight " fairly and 
squarely," in the manner known in the East as 
" Bushido " (The way of Samurai), or " Kunshi no 
Arasoi " (The conflict of true gentlemen — " clean 
fighting "). It ought to be a matter of course that 
morality should rule both the aims and the means 
of war. And when for the sake of Justice and 
Freedom war becomes inevitable, every nation should 
consider the enemy's case impartially, as a judge, 
appreciating the good points of their foes even while 
combating their faults ; hating their failings, but not 
necessarily hating their people. Any nation can only 
secure " the moral compensation of war " by ad- 
vancing after war into a new kind of life, in the new 

86 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

light of this international morality. If war simply 
rouses the mutual hatred and hostile feelings of 
nations, and does not lead them to deep heart- 
searchings, it can have no other effect than sowing 
seed for another war, it can never lift the world to a 
higher spiritual plane than that of the present. 



87 



THE REAL JAPAN AND THE JAPANESE 

It is a fact that hitherto Japan has been misunder- 
stood alike in peace and in war. But the real Japan 
and the Japanese themselves, as they were and are, 
alone can truly explain themselves whether by peace 
or war ; and nothing else but this explanation can 
suggest to the world the actual problems of Japan, 
whether present or future. In general, interest in 
Japan has been roused chiefly by her wars with 
Continental Powers, yet he who loves truth should 
not rest content with observing it externally and 
superficially, but should do his utmost to penetrate 
deep beneath superficial conditions to the inner 
consideration of the spiritual life and ideals of the 
Japanese people. 



I. Present-day Japan Viewed in a Spiritual 
Light. 

Now, it hardly needs emphasis that those who wish 
to understand other nations as they actually are 
must reject partial views arising from their own 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

preconceptions, and fully recognise what the nation 
is in its entirety by observations on the material 
and the spiritual. To consider a civilisation, 
even on its material side, in regard to its special 
natural environment, the temperament of the people, 
their social conditions and systems, etc., is neither 
simple nor easy. However, as material things are 
more easily perceived, they have been generally 
more observed by foreigners, while observation of 
the spiritual and the more hidden has been seriously 
neglected. 

To speak comparatively of the two : while that 
concerning the civilisation on its material side has 
to a great extent come from foreign countries, that 
concerning the civilisation in its mental and spiritual 
aspects has largely developed from purely native 
sources. And if we further subdivide observation 
on the mental and spiritual side, we shall find that 
while what concerns the intellectual has com- 
paratively been greatly affected by foreign influences, 
whilst on the other hand what concerns the spiritual 
— religion or morality — has largely developed on the 
basis of the purely native spirit. Though Japanese 
mental civilisation is of course made up of both 
elements, what may be termed its special character 
has been rather spiritual than intellectual. And yet, 
this is just what has been most ignored by foreign 
critics ; therefore anyone who wishes to observe 

89 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

modern Japan with the eyes of to-day should with 
the utmost care re-examine the real nature of 
the spirit of Japan. Anyone who tries to trace 
modern Japan to its origin, by casting his eyes back 
to its remotest history, will be compelled to see how 
long that history has been developing, meeting many 
difficult tests, yet maintaining its spiritual unity 
through all. But what has appeared vivid in its 
history in many cases of national affliction, or 
meeting special needs as these have arisen during 
its long history, does not constitute the whole of the 
spirit of Japan. Just as the water of a river, which 
flowing continually along its bed, throws up bubbles 
from below to the surface, so the spirit of Japan has 
its hidden reality, that is the latent spirit in 
japan beneath its historical foam. The spirit is 
the source whence, for more than 2,500 years, 
Japanese history has developed ; and Japanese 
military activities in recent wars, the awakening 
of " slumbering energy," are nothing other than a 
manifestation of this spirit. It will be plain, then, 
that if we really wish to understand the national 
life and endeavour of the Japanese, we must consider 
in detail its latent spirit as well as its manifested 
energy, because the former is the origin of their 
living moral and religious power, not only in the past 
and present, but also we are bound to conclude that 
it will be so in the future. Hitherto people who 

90 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

have given any attention to the spirit of Japan 
have been prone to note the national readiness, in 
recent times, to imitate and apply Western learning 
and institutions, or they immediately settle Japan's 
place in the world according to her military prowess. 

But THE SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS WHICH ASSIGN JAPAN 

her place in the world lie really in the moral 
and religious training by which she has continuously 
evolved her ideal from the very first. Her material 
civilisation is not what Japan can rely upon ; fighting 
power is not a sufficient ground of confidence for 
her. What Japan really can rely upon, and ought to 
be proud of, indeed, is the unresting endeavour and 
activity with which her people evolve themselves 
morally and religiously towards their nobler 
ideals. 

As soon as Japan, which until recent times had 
been nearly cut off from other foreign countries, 
once had her dream broken by the sudden crowding 
in of external relations through her opened ports, 
with springing energy fresh from her long rest she 
began her endeavours and activities in a thoroughly 
modern way on every side ; that is to say, in politics, 
economics, military affairs, the sciences, etc. At the 
same time, she has preserved and practised with 
scrupulous fidelity the principle of pure self-sacrifice 
inherited from ancient times. Nations generally 
are not great merely by virtue of having a material 

9i 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

ideal of the enrichment and military strengthening 
of the country. The real greatness of a country, 
we should remember, besides such ideals, lies in its 
possession of mighty virtues. Yet more important 
still, this goal is not to be achieved by entire 
indifference to foreign nations, by trying to be good 
alone ; the essence of the higher ideals consists in 
the principle of considering not only one's own 
nationality, but at the same time of contributing to 
others for the sake of mutual happiness. That 
will be the ideal of a sound civilisation in the future 
if ever the nations are to stand in more and more 
intimate relations with one another. But the spirit 
of self-sacrifice which enables all nations to progress 
intellectually and ethically, whilst they are acting 
freely for their own sakes, at the same time unites 
them morally for mutual help, has been historically 
developed in Japan, and in spite of its almost furious 
modernisation, that old spirit has been followed 
unchanged, for the Japanese make much of their 
history ; and there is good reason to believe that it 
will distinguish them in the future as well as in the 
present. This is a point which no one who wishes 
to know Japan intimately should fail to notice. 
To consider it a ferocious and crafty country is a 
misreading of its true character, based on shallow 
and one-sided observation — as would be also any 
misrepresentation of the significance of Japanese 

92 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

fighting power and the rapid modernising changes 
that have occurred there. Excluding this funda- 
mental misconception, the proper way to understand 
the real Japanese people is to make clear the special 
character of the spirit of Japan, which survives 
beyond the changes of the times, and also to learn 
the true Japanese estimation of this spirit. 



II. The Psychology and Character of the 
Japanese Race. 

If nations wish to have intercourse with one 
another as friendly countries, become intimate and 
helpful, and rise above their state of antipathy as 
natural enemies, like the wild beasts or savage races, 
though there may be some differences in their 
psychology, yet it is hardly necessary to say that they 
ought rightly to understand the psychology of one 
another through their natural environment, history, 
social and other special conditions. By considering 
now the racial characteristics as faithfully reflected in 
the manners, customs, traditions, and mythology — 
original spiritual products of the Japanese people — 
we shall discover the two great characteristics 
of the racial spirit. The mythology of Japan is 
artistically enriched by the dualistically constructive 

93 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

thought involved in the ideas of light and darkness, 
good and evil, violence and gentleness. This dualistic 
attitude is so deeply rooted in the racial thought 
that it naturally appears in the life and history 
of the Japanese as a striking love of paradox. 
To mention the most conspicuous features in their 
mentality : — 

First, there is their kwan-yo-sei (tolerant 
generosity). This is revealed in their mental search 
for variety, in their endeavour to take in different 
elements ; and this historical fact is too obvious to 
need further elucidation. What is too often lost sight 
of is the psychological faculty revealed by the free and 
bold indulgence of their many-sided spiritual appetite. 
And their vigorous, active, springing, vivid life is 
probably the result not only of their custom of loving 
Nature, but really of the creative impulse fostered by 
contact with many different factors and by taking in 
various elements — that is, by applying successfully 
the method of refreshing life by touching life at as 
many different points as possible. 

Secondly, there is their dokwa-sei (assimilative 
nature) acting powerfully and constantly. They do 
not take in foreign elements indiscriminately, but 
select and digest them till they become a part of their 
nature. This assimilative power is strikingly illus- 
trated in their historical development, which shows 
an unbroken sequence of progress and illumination 

94 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

derived from Chinese, Indian and Western civilisa- 
tions, each of which has consecutively in turn 
contributed a material product which has been 
Japanised. 

These two mental characteristics (the tolerant and 
the assimilative), being originally different from each 
other — the former producing the complex, the latter 
the simple, the former expanding, the latter 
concentrating — create a curious dualistic faculty in 
the mind of the Japanese people. Their love of 
paradox, as represented by inclusion and assimilation, 
has the power of self-preservation, on the one hand, 
and, on the other, of making easy reconciliation and 
union with other peoples. The fact that both the 
centrifugal and centripetal activities are found in 
the mind of the Japanese people accounts for 
the unquenchable, progressive spirit with which 
they unswervingly and vigilantly pursue their 
ideal. 

One of the most striking phases of the racial 
character which may throw light on this considera- 
tion is what may be called the positive 

HELIOTROPISM OF THE JAPANESE RACE. It is most 

obvious, on putting the character of the Japanese 
people to the test, that they have a racial heliotropism 
— a constant tendency towards the sun (ko-jitsu-sei). 
It is not without significance that, among other 
natural phenomena, the sun has been a prominent 

95 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

object of worship 1 among the Japanese from the 
so-called divine age, and this worship early gave 
birth to a magnificent mythology in which the sun 
was regarded not only as the power blessing Nature, 
giving life to everything, and as the source of light and 
heat, but also as the symbol of truth, goodness, and 
beauty, in so far as those ideals could be manifested 
by means of it. Accordingly, while the worship of 
the sun aided the development of their ideal of truth, 
goodness, and beauty, the sun also symbolised more 
and more the evolution of the original racial character 
of turning always to the sunshine — a convinced 
optimism — a constant habit of looking on the bright 
side of things. Again, in spite of their appreciation 
of a disposition calculating and alert — called out, as 
some say, by their frequent association with volcanoes 
and earthquakes — yet their predominant character- 
istics are a love of frank truthfulness, for what 
is simple and innocent, straightforward and 
unpretentious. Further, the ancestral love of purity 
is shown in the cleansing (often ceremonially) of 
pollutions by natural elements, driving away 
impurities by wind, and by bathing in the sea-tide or 
flowing river, indicating that they appreciate clean- 
ness and singleness of heart, as opposed to impurity 
and corruption ; this is to seek not only the 

1 Cf. M. Revon, Le Shinntoisme p. 77 ; O. Nachod, Geschichte 
von Japan, vol. i., S. 113. 

96 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

purification of the body but at the same time that of 
the spirit, according to the idea which regards sin and 
pollution as one and the same thing. Lastly, those 
who know best the beautiful poetic element in the 
Japanese island-life, and the part it has played in 
Japanese history, will be most aware how impossible 
it is that they should fall into a sheer realism which 
is opposed to the aesthetic ideals so strongly 
expressed by the national flag — the symbol of the 
Sun. 

From a consideration of the facts above mentioned, 
we see how the characteristic turning to the sunshine 
is generally reflected in Japanese manners and 
customs, temperament and taste, etc. Above all, 
their love of cherry blossoms — of which most 
foreigners apparently fail to understand the true 
reason — is really because these blossoms, refreshing 
and so emblematic of purity, are naturally akin to 
the taste and character of the Japanese people, and 
easily satisfy their aesthetic perceptions. So we find 
in an ode of Motoori Norinaga (a well-known Shinto 
scholar, 1730-1801 a.d.) : — 

" Shiki-shima no yamatogokoro wo hito towa ba, 
Asahi ni nihofu yamazakura-bana." 

(" Should anyone ask me what the spirit of Japan is 
like, I would point to the blossoms of the wild cherry-tree 
bathing in the rays of the morning sun.") x 

1 Y. Okakura, The Japanese Spirit, p. 112. 
97 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

The spirit of the Japanese loves such innocent 
and refreshing spontaneity of beauty, and this 
taste represents simply and plainly the character 
of the people who are fond of saying what 
might be translated : "Be cheerful ; " " Live 
sunnily ; " " Make the best of your life." If 
this be really so, their ideal, developing from 
the ancient devout worship of the Sun, finally 
comes into line with the inner feeling which 
makes conscience the sun of the heart, or seeks 
the Sun within the "heavenly garden of the 
heart," as Shinto scholars expressed it. Or as the 
German lines say : — 

" Hab' Sonne im Herzen, 
Ob's stuermt oder schneit, 
Ob der Himmel voll Wolken, 
Die Erde voll Streit ! 
Hab' Sonne im Herzen, 
Dann komme was mag ! 
Das leuchtet voll Licht dir 
Den dunkelsten Tag ! 
Hab' ein Lied auf den Lippen, 
Mit frohlichen Klang, 
Und macht auch des Alltags 
Gedraenge dich bang ! 



Hab' ein Lied auf den Lippen, 
Verlier nie den Mut, 
Hab' Sonne im Herzen, 
Und alles wird gut ! " 

9 8 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

" Possess the sun within thy heart, 
In midst of storm and snow ; 
E'en if the heavens are full of clouds, 
And earth has strife and woe. 
Possess the sun within thy heart, 
Then let there come what may, 
There will be light within thy soul, 
E'en on the darkest day. 
Possess a song upon thy lips, 
And sing it all aglow, 
The song will turn the dreary day 
To sunshine — melt the snow. 

Possess a song upon thy lips, 
And courage ne'er let go, 
Possess the sun within thy heart, 
And all will smoothly flow." 

If, then, this natural turning to the sunshine is one 
of their most conspicuous traits, to consider their 
character as generally cunning or crafty is nothing 
but a dogmatism based on biased views about the 
psychology of other nations which naturally arises 
from men's reluctance to understand the position 
of others. 

It follows that anyone who really wishes to 
understand the rather daring free activities of the 
Japanese, their cult of honour and intrepidity — 
however subtle their motives may seem — should 
never be discouraged from investigating the other 
side, namely their equally ardent love of honesty and 
impartiality. 

99 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

III. The Morality and Religion of the 

Japanese Nation. 

How could the Japanese nation take in foreign 
elements and differentiate them, yet without being 
perplexed by them ; but, on the contrary, by 
assimilating them with her own qualities, turn them 
nto a practical power and thus develop her 
organically united national spirit ? Anyone who 
desires to answer this question should, first of all, pay 
deep attention to the inner life of the Japanese, and 
understand their national morality and religion as 
manifestations of the nation's original spirit. 

THE REALISING LIFE OF THE JAPANESE NATION. 

In Japan, " Koto-age se nu kuni," " the unpreten- 
tious country," as she has been called, practice was 
considered from the first more important than theory, 
and there is evidence that the people went almost to 
an extreme in this respect, when as a nation they were 
forming their traditional motto concerning this 
principle. Because they are not pretentious, it is 
difficult for foreigners to know the truth about 
spiritual Japan ; and what people very often look 
at with cold eyes of neglect has been just the very 
essence of the inner life of the nation. We should, 
then, try to understand the strength as well as the 
weakness of the spiritual deeps of their nature ; and 

<,r' ioo 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

this we can do by seeing the ideal secretly followed 
and yet not expressed, in their pragmatic tendency 
towards deed rather than word, and in trying to find 
out hidden meanings from realised achievements and 
facts and not from mere abstract theories. Various 
forms and systems of Oriental mental and spiritual 
culture are performed in Shinto, Bushido, and 
other cults as a means of cultivating practical ability. 
Such cults insist on a thorough drilling of the body, 
on securing unity of mind and body, on educational 
training given to the spirit, etc. The effect of culti- 
vating thus various forms of practical ability has been 
enormous, though foreigners usually fail to perceive 
it. What they fail to recognise is that this practical 
method is not a mere conventionalism, making light 
of the ideal, but is the ardent, positive principle of 
desiring to prove absolutely, by deed, the truth of 
what the Japanese believe to be right or good. 
Following this principle, and acquiring the actual 
substance of their ideal bit by bit, they have 
developed in their spiritual life the characteristics of 
their morality and belief. 

THE FOUNDATION OF NATIONAL MORALITY AND 

religion. Now, the morality and belief of a nation 
are woven into the fabric of the inner life peculiar 
to that nation, according to its natural environment, 
history, society, temperament, etc. In considering 
this guiding principle of the Japanese nation, what 

IOI 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

should most claim attention is the fact that the 
lives of the people as individuals and as a nation 
are so closely connected and fused that the whole 
nation being in complete spiritual agreement has 
greatly developed the virtue of co-operation in their 
corporate life. So we can see the two-fold combina- 
tion of their spiritual life — the social and the 
genealogical — evolving into a nation ; each individual 
not merely uniting with others socially as a nation, but 
also as fathers and descendants united in time by 
ancestor-worship and making up one line spiritually. 
This is the reason why they are relatively valorous 
when they are combined, in spite of their peaceable- 
ness as individuals, a fact often remarked on by 
foreigners. Here we have the real psychological 
foundation of the solidarity of japan. And what 
is especially worthy of attention is the fact that, 
on the one hand, in spite of ideas of rights and 
liberty, and the dignity and value of the individual 
recently coming to prevail under the influence of 
European thought, still, on the other hand, the 
original principle of pure self-sacrifice is no less now 
than formerly an essential element of the Japanese 
spirit. This principle of self-sacrifice or unselfishness, 
which is the root of sincere loyalty and free, willing 
obedience, is the power which inspires them. 
Therefore, though to-day they are apt to be involved 
in the clouds of suspicion, and to be considered by 

102 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

others subtle and crafty, anyone who impartially 
investigates the foundation of their morality and 
belief will not find it difficult to perceive that the 
common basis of their morality and belief is 
essentially the same as his own, and will indeed 
recognise the truth of the saying : " Light is 
good in whatever lamp it is burning. A rose is 
beautiful in whatever garden it may bloom. A star 
has the same radiance if it shines in the East or in 
the West." 

Thus, then, though the national morality and 
religion of Japan have elements peculiar to them- 
selves, they do not necessarily contradict universal 
moral and religious principles. It is obvious that 
nations as well as individual men, while agreeing 
with one another in their essential nature, may yet 
develop national as well as individual qualities 
peculiar to themselves and relieve the world from 
monotony by playing a distinctive part in the concord 
of humanity. To speak of acting in concert with 
one another does not imply an agreement which 
destroys the special nature and character of each 
country, but should be the effect of a successful 
evolution of the special nature and character of 
each country. Every country evolving its individual 
values as a nation should contribute to other friendly 
nations, as red and blue, for example, contribute 
their peculiar qualities of colour to the beauty of 

103 



THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OF JAPAN 

nature. So this ideal is not anti-national after all - 
it is international. But there is one thing of which 
every people should be most careful : while it is 
right that every country should appreciate its own 
nationality at its full value, there is a great danger 
here m inferring the general from the particular. For 
this would prevent paying due heed to others, and 
while naturally leading to ignorance of other countries 
would at the same time forbid true self-understanding 
m relation to other nations. The great necessity 
is to view correctly one's own country from a world- 
wide standpoint in its relation to others. Therefore 
every country should consider its political ideals and 
national principles in this light, seeking the wider 
and firmer spiritual foundations which will assuredly 
establish a new patriotism based on a full recognition 
both of national and international claims and 
relations. Is there on all the horizon of the future 
a problem of graver moment than the relation of 
nationalism and internationalism ? But what alone 
will make the solution possible is that every nation 
should form a new conception of its fellows ; first 
of all learning to understand them spiritually, and 
thus finding the common bond which lies at the root 
of the different thougnts and beliefs of all peoples. 



104 



APPENDICES 



I. Works of Reference on Bushido in 
European Languages. 

i. The Imperial Precepts to the Soldiers and Sailors- 
Tokyo, 1913. 

This contains also the " Boshin " Imperial Rescript, 
and is authorised by the Department of Education of 
Japan. 

2. Bushido, die Geheimwissenschaft Japans, by H. Bon- 

degger. Berlin, 1905. 

3. Bushido by Foreign Writers, by Y. Matsu-ura. Tokyo,. 

1904. 

4. Le Bushido, by Marquis de la Mazeliere. Paris- 

(privately printed). 

5. The Japanese Spirit, by Y, Okakura. London, 1909. 

This book supplies good material concerning 
Bushido as well as Shinto, with an Introduction by- 
George Meredith. 

6. Bushido, by H. Moore. Croydon, 191 3. 

105 



APPENDICES 

7. The Story of Old Japan, by J. H. Longford. London. 

1910. 

The Mythology of Japan and historical stories 
concerning Bushido and the Feudal Systems are 
given in this book. See also the same author's 
Article on " The Spirit of Japan," in The Spirit of the 
Allied Nations, edited by Sidney Low. London, 
1915- 

8. Bushido, the Soul of Japan, by I. Nitobe. 

The tenth revised and enlarged edition, with an 
Introduction by W. E. Griffis. London, 1905. 

In 1 90 1 this book was translated by E. Kaufmann 
into German, under the title Bushido : Eine Darstel- 
lung des Japanischen Geistes. See also the same 
author's The Japanese Nation. New York and 
London, 191 2. 

9. Among the journals containing articles on Bushido the 

following are worthy of notice : — 

(a) " Bushido, the Japanese Ethical Code," by A. 

Stead, in the Monthly Review. London, 1904. 

(b) " Bushido in its Relation to Women," by S. 

Ballard, in The East and the West. London, 
1906. 

(c) " Zur Psychologie der Japaner ; Die Japan- 

ische Volksseele ; Uber den Kriegerischen 
Geist und die Todesverachtung der Japaner, 
by E. Baelz in the Deutsche Japanpost. 
Yokohama, 1 903-5. 

106 



APPENDICES 

II. Works of Reference on Shinto in 
European Languages. 

i. Shinto, the Way of the Gods, by W. G. Aston. London, 
1905. 

The general features of Shinto, the Pantheon, 
Worship, Ceremonial, etc., are treated in this book. 
Also see the same author's little volume, Shinto, the 
Ancient Religion of Japan. London, 1907. 

2. The Development of Religion in Japan, by G. W. Knox. 

New York and London, 1907. 

This book makes up the six series of the American 
Lectures on the History of Religions. 

3. The Religions of Japan from the Dawn of History to the 

Era of Meiji, by W. E. Griffis. Fourth Edition. 
New York, 1901. 

This work consists of a collection of Lectures 
delivered on the Morse Foundation in the Union 
Theological Seminary, New York. Also see the same 
author's Mikado's Empire. Sixth Edition. New 
York, 1 89 1. 

4. Japan : An Attempt at Interpretation, by Lafcadio 

Hearn. London and New York, 1904. 

The Ancient Cult, the Religion of the Home, the 
Development of Shinto, the Religion of Loyalty, etc., 
are included in the contents. 



107 



APPENDICES 

5. Le Shinntoisme, by M. Revon. Paris, 1907. 

This volume is to be highly recommended. 

6. Japanische Mythologie, by Karl Florenz. Tokyo, 1901. 

See also the same author's Article on " Der 
Shintoismus " in the Kultur der Gegenwart, edited by 
Paul Hinneberg. Leipzig und Berlin, 19 13. 

7. Religion der Japaner, by Hans Haas. Jena, 1914. 

This is reprinted as a Pamphlet from Archiv. fur 
Religionswissenschaft. This article contains especially 
useful notes on Shinto. 

8. Shinto, die Volksreligion Japans, by Emil Schiller. 

Berlin, 191 1. 

Such aspects in Shinto as Natural Religion, 
Emperor-Worship, Ancestor-Worship, Hero- Worship, 
Polytheism, etc., are treated in this book. 

9. Occult Japan; or The Way of the Gods, by P. Lowell. 

Boston, 1895. 

This is an esoteric study of Shinto. 

10. The Temples of the Orient and their Messages, by E. A. 
Gordon. London, 1905. 

This contains many important allusions to Shinto. 
108 



APPENDICES 

ii. Transactions of the Japan Society. 

The Nihongi, translated by W. G. Aston. London, 
1896. 

12. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. 

A series of Papers on " The Revival of Pure 
Shinto," 1875, and " Ancient Japanese Rituals," 
1879-81, by Sir Ernest Satow ; "The Kojiki," 
translated by B. H. Chamberlain, 18S3 ; Ancient 
Japanese Rituals : The Ohoharai, with translation 
and notes by Karl Florenz, 1899. 

13. Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fiir die Natur 

und Vulkerkunde Ostasiens. 

Nihongi, German translation by Karl Florenz, 
1892-97. 

14. Miscellaneous books and articles concerning Shinto by 

many other eminent scholars, such as Spinner, 
Weipert, Witte, Nachod, Lloyd, Buckley, Murray, 
Brinkley, Count Goblet D'Alviella, etc., are generally 
valuable. Among the periodicals which often 
bear on the subject are the Revue de I'histoire 
des Religions, T'oung Pao, and Zeitschrift fur 
Missionskunde und Religionswissenschaft, etc. 

109 



APPENDICES 

15. Bibliography of the Japanese Empire, by Fr. von 
Wenckstern. 2 vols. Tokyo, 1895-1907. 

The two volumes give a classified list of books and 
essays in European languages relating to Japan, 
including a facsimile reprint of Leon Pages' 
Bibliographie Japonaise. 



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